Organizational Development: A Manual for Managers and ... - FPDL

eginning, but as they become accustomed to it, they may even derive pleasure from it. What to
do? Life is life.
Interdependent subjects may ignore one another (thus increasing any number of non-controllable
factors and related risks); they may try to suppress or annihilate others (thus keeping control over
the situation); or they may play one or more games or combinations of games.
Ignoring
(fortuity; chance)
Conflict
(without rules)
Game
(by rules)
Picture 11 Ignoring-Game-Conflict three-angle
Social behaviour
The term social is derived from the Latin word socius, which as a noun means ‘an associate, ally,
companion’, and in the adjectival form, socialis refers to ‘a bond between people’ (such as
marriage) or to their collective or connected existence (www.en.wikipedia.org). We call the
behaviour of creatures social, when they are either influenced by others to a certain extent or are
able to influence others. The set of creatures, which are interrelated in such a way as to form a
system, we call socion.
Let us assume that subjects inside the socion possess the same power relative to each other. This
‘equilibrium’ is scarcely probable and cannot remain stable due to the dynamics and the stochastic
character of the organisms and the medium. However, the analysis of this simplified situation will
make it easier to understand some general patterns.
Trying to increase the rationality of their own behaviour, each subject may try to exercise power to
induce others to a more ‘suitable’ (for him) behaviour, and in this case, most probably, will also be
subjected to a corresponding inducement.
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