Yet still the search for the one best way to tune the machine that is the organisation continues. Gradually however, with advances in theory and practice, with insights from the newer business gurus and with progress in applying the emergent science of complex adaptive systems to organisational settings, a new paradigm of organisations is indeed emerging. The world of management is coming to realise that organisations, quite literally, have a life of their own. Like organic species they evolve and adapt, or else go extinct. To the extent that evolution penetrated classical management thinking it was as a metaphor for gradual and even managed change.
Evolution is either revolution or it is nothing.
The new view of geological evolution is itself only some 20 years old. The inherent tendency of genes to replicate is the driving force of evolution. We believe they do. You will find particular assumptions and meanings conveyed and created in the nuances of language and jargon that an organisation employs. You will find traditions that are accepted as part of the way things are around here.