Welcome!
Hi. I’m Jeff and I write about organization in all its wondrous forms.
If we want to understand how something works, how it could change, and into what, we need to understand how it’s organised. Organization isn’t deterministic. It doesn’t completely define operation or use. But it does provide the context of possibility. And how that possibility gets activated or not offers the broad terrain I explore here.
My commentary focuses mainly on current events, examined from an organizational perspective. I tend to hew close to my primary area of expertise and focus mainly on markets and firms. I do occasionally venture in discussions around states (principally the US and UK) and the international system.
Alright, but who am I?
I contain multitudes!
Professionally, I’m a strategy consultant. I spend my days thinking about, designing, and simulating a wide variety of organisational forms - mainly markets and business firms - and exploring the dynamics within and between them.
My private sector career has included stints in large consultancies, giant multinationals, tiny non-profits, and boutique agencies.
Prior to this, I was an academic, teaching at universities in the US and UK. My PhD is in Sociology – researched organizational emergence and political change. And I principally taught quantitative methods.
I was born in Tennessee and grew up on North Carolina, with a brief foray in Indiana. But I’ve been in London for over 20 years now. As you read this, I hope your internal dialogue hears my southern twang.
One last thing, why this name?
This newsletter takes its name from a paraphrased quote attributed to Max Weber, early 20th century polymath, founder of sociology, and all round awesome guy.
The great virtue of bureaucracy - indeed, perhaps its defining characteristic - was that it was an institutional method for applying general rules to specific cases, thereby making the actions of government fair and predictable.
I’ve been a bit of a Weber fanboy since undergrad and have something of a love affair with the bureaucratic form. This felt like a fitting homage.
