Max De Pree, in one of the bestselling business books of the 1990s, Leadership Is an Art, lists signs of entropy in an organization:
» When there is a tendency towards superficiality.
» When dark tension exists among key people.
» When we no longer have time for celebration, reflection and ritual.
» When there is a growing feeling that rewards and goals are the same thing.
» When problem makers outnumber problem solvers.
» When leaders seek to control rather than liberate.
» When the pressures of day-to-day operations push aside our concern for vision and risk.
» When people speak of customers as impositions on their time rather than as opportunities for service.
I have observed – on more occasions and in more settings than I would ever wish – that De Pree is right.