Neil Postman's 1992 book "Technopoly: the surrender of culture to technology" is highly relevant to the subject of writing in organisational life today.
First, Postman lays out how every technology, including writing, alters human thinking. He then goes on to show how bureaucracy has come to be about the pursuit of efficiency above all else:
First, Postman lays out how every technology, including writing, alters human thinking. He then goes on to show how bureaucracy has come to be about the pursuit of efficiency above all else:
"The bureaucrat considers the implications of a decision only to the extent that the decision will affect the efficient operations of the bureaucracy, and takes no responsibility for its human consequences." (page 86-87)
Problems arise when bureaucratic techniques (e.g. standardised forms, categories and labels, opinion surveys) are applied by "experts" to every problem in society without looking at context or history. This :
"...works fairly well in situations where only a technical solution is required and there is no conflict with human purposes -- for example, space rocketry or the construction of a sewer system. It works less well in situations where technical requirements may conflict with human purposes, as in medicine or architecture. And it is disastrous when applied to situations that cannot be solved by technical means and where efficiency is usually irrelevant, such as in education, law, family life, and problems of personal maladjustment." (page 88)
Of course, the information explosion that began in the 20th century has only served to reinforce the rule of the bureaucrat.
In case this all sounds too negative, Postman's final chapter includes some suggestions about how to resist technopoly. Most are related to education. For example, he recommends that every subject (including scientific ones) "be taught as history". That way, people can begin to understand that "knowledge is not a fixed thing but a stage in human development, with a past and a future". History, Postman says, teaches that "the world is not created anew each day, that everyone stands on someone else's shoulders." And histories, in a nutshell, are "theories about why change occurs".
All of this speaks to the role of the written word in society today. For me, Postman's book provides a strong argument for (a) restricting the use of bureaucratic techniques to technical problems only, and (b) taking history seriously in every field.
In case this all sounds too negative, Postman's final chapter includes some suggestions about how to resist technopoly. Most are related to education. For example, he recommends that every subject (including scientific ones) "be taught as history". That way, people can begin to understand that "knowledge is not a fixed thing but a stage in human development, with a past and a future". History, Postman says, teaches that "the world is not created anew each day, that everyone stands on someone else's shoulders." And histories, in a nutshell, are "theories about why change occurs".
All of this speaks to the role of the written word in society today. For me, Postman's book provides a strong argument for (a) restricting the use of bureaucratic techniques to technical problems only, and (b) taking history seriously in every field.