Alice in Organisationland

A l l i c e n i o r g a n i s a t i o l a n d n

A visual journey in English through the Dutch book www.aliceinorganisatieland.nl

falls A lice falls falls …. and and

W hen she is finished falling, she scrapes the remaining pieces of cloud from her dress

S he looks around her and sees a magnificent grainfield ready for harvesting

S uddenly she hears voices … She turns around

We will starve this winter because so little harvesting has been done The rainy season is coming. The grain will decay in the fields

“ W hy on earth are the people tálking about the grain, whereas they should be harvesting it ? ” Alice asks herself loudly

… people don’t behave as logical as a clock To this I know the answer ….

A lice turns towards the clock She is very eager to hear what the clock has to say

“ The written rules shape the first system. This structure determines part of your behaviour”

“ … behind the intended system a second system lies. Both are tied together and preserve each others state …..”

“ Everything which is not visibly regulated is regulated nevertheless, you see?” the clock says

A lice would gladly see the invisible, but the sight of pregnant grain is catching her eyes instead

“ Maybe you will get the picture if I show you some unwritten rules Look …”

“ Ik zal je een aantal ongeschreven regels laten zien” “ Ik zal je een aantal ongeschreven regels laten zien” Don’t make mistakes Make the boss happy Be the bringer of happy news Never putt down your colleagues Do not speak your true mind Don’t speak directly to someone higher in the hierarchy You can say NO and do YES

A lice has become pretty dizzy watching all those rules that are unwritten!

“ Dizzy or not, people tend to follow the rules which are nót written”

the clock calls out before Alice continues falling “ Believe behaviour, not words”

A fter Alice hits solid ground, she continues her journey

S he thinks about the man who recently told her that his door always stands open for her …

S he can see now that people don’t always walk their talk, but she doesn’t yet understand why , especially not if people get hungry by doing so!

Then she comes across a motive

m a k e s ur e y o u c l a r i f y t h e m “ Every behaviour has its roots in its motives” the motive says

“ Motives? Hmmm… having enough to eat, being important, cosiness, making friends, being able to harvest well, gaining respect, status, earning money, climbing the social ladder, recognition, acknowledgment” Alice runs down a few

“ People want to satisfy several motives. When they can’t, they simply freeze” the motive knows “ Wait, I will show you …”

Behaviour: working hard to harvest the grain Motive: Cosiness Motive: Gaining social status … . My colleagues will think I am a eager beaver … . I will then get recognition from my boss

“ Are you showing off when you work hard? How I would like to break this circle” Alice calls out before she continues falling

W hile Alice tidies up her hair a bit (which is not an unnecessary luxury after falling) she hears distant twittering

“ Emotion is the reason why people will be hungry this winter” the birds twitter in her direction

“ Thoughts about the written rules paint the colours of people’s emotions. They thereby make a painting of reality. But their emotions do not represent reality itself”

“ You can not check whether your emotion is “real”, because if you go looking for it, you summon it ..

“… but the colour of your emotion dóes affect your behaviour”

Je kunt niet controleren of je emotie echt bestaat, want als je ernaar zoekt roep je de emotie op “ If you are feeling bad, you’d rather not play or work together and your memory does not work as well either”

“ Then, harvesting the grain will probably not belong to the possibilities?” Alice asks while summoning an angry mood

“ That’s right. The way you think determines the way you feel and behave Acknowledge the power of thinking habits!”

“ Emotion is a closed system of chain reactions. Stand beside the dominoes and try to see what your emotions tell you about the situation”

W hile the dominoes fall, Alice falls further and further …

H er landing is wet

“ Most people don’t see the other person, but an image they have formed of someone. In this way they don’t talk to the other, but to themselves” the bubbles say

“… . but the behaviour of others is determined by a lot more factors than your opinion about them”

“ But how do I break down this system ….” Alice sighs

“ By asking if what you are seeing is right. That’s how you break the second system” the bubbles bubble

“ You can start by putting on different glasses to look at the same thing …”

“… . you can only complete the picture by wánting to understand the point of view of everyone involved …”

If you comply with unwritten rules like “Don’t keep asking questions” and “Don’t speak up to someone higher in the hierarchy” your picture remains one sided”

But is your picture right ? ” You will have to verify !” Alice calls out in an euphoric state

“ That’s right ! ” a proud bubble says, bursting into pieces as a result of pure joy

A lice feels her journey through organisationland has come to an end She thinks about what she has learned

“ If you use your eyeballs well, you can find out how people interpret the written rules”

“… and if you know how unwritten rules come about, you can change them!” Alice concludes feeling as light as a feather

F rom that moment on … Alice fell happily ever after

Epilogue by Alice: Unwritten rules have diverse effects from which people suffer, while the same people also cause them by keeping to the unwritten rules. People often don’t know that and they almost never do so on purpose. No one is to blame! And that is just as well, because feeling guilty makes you freeze and do nothing and we wouldn’t want thát. Tsssss…

You were watching the visual interpretation of the book “Alice in organisatieland” as seen through the eyes of Marina Noordegraaf ( www.marinanoordegraaf.nl ). With very special thanks for checking the English to my dear friend Tim Bowen, who has been my penfriend from England for over 16 years now Through the eyes of Marina Noordegraaf

The visual material for this travel came from flickr ( http:// www.flickr.com )

1. http:// www.flickr.com / photos / botheredbybees /323501213/ 3. http://www.flickr.com/photos/andthenpatterns/608853796/ 4 . http:// www.flickr.com / photos / kky /704056791/ 5. http:// www.flickr.com / photos / rayced /480714958/ 6. http:// www.flickr.com / photos /77682540@N00/2623969513/ 7. http:// www.flickr.com / photos / hamed /962315433/ 8. http://www.flickr.com/photos/konehead/2831780556/ 9. http:// www.flickr.com / photos / azrainman /990800063/ 10. http:// www.flickr.com / photos / strict /413108056/ 11. http:// www.flickr.com / photos / rockymountainhigh /1538260470/ 12 . http://www.flickr.com/photos/zakmc/2336254540/ 13. http:// www.flickr.com / photos / trialsanderrors /2818529606/ 14. http://www.flickr.com/photos/marfis75/2583328345/ 15. Photo by Marina Noordegraaf 16. http:// www.flickr.com / photos /miranda310/2586075501/in/ photostream / 17. http://www.flickr.com/photos/17305559@N00/482841793/ 18. http:// www.flickr.com / photos /cygnus921/2728259955/ 19. http:// www.flickr.com / photos / nicmcphee /395357747/ 20. http:// www.flickr.com / photos /pinkspleen/464011400/ 21. http://www.flickr.com/photos/andyfitz/292886381/ 22. http:// www.flickr.com / photos / wojtekmejor /1338394306/ 23. http:// www.flickr.com / photos /28481088@N00/1461848534/ 24. http:// www.flickr.com / photos /28481088@N00/1461848106/in/ photostream / 25. http:// www.flickr.com / photos / emdot /96674873/ 26. http:// www.flickr.com / photos / peterpearson /2618681122/ 27. http:// www.flickr.com / photos / superfantastic /1565232473/ 28. http:// www.flickr.com / photos / terretta /168517881/ 29. http:// www.flickr.com / photos / combust /988271713/ 30. http:// www.flickr.com / photos / superfantastic /327265160/ 31 . http:// www.flickr.com / photos / lifeontheedge /476415724/ 32. http:// www.flickr.com / photos /yogi/175690858/ 33 . http://www.flickr.com/photos/allyaubryphotography/2535453766/ 34. http:// www.flickr.com / photos / selmanpinarli /407250078/ 35. http:// www.flickr.com / photos / lanuiop /2488945432/in/ photostream / 36. http://www.flickr.com/photos/freeparking/2567089413/ 37. http:// www.flickr.com / photos / aussiegall /297237720/ 38. http://www.flickr.com/photos/fdecomite/474389675/ 39 . http:// www.flickr.com / photos / notsogoodphotography /2099576911/ 40. http://www.flickr.com/photos/annieominous/2216861189/ 41. http:// www.flickr.com / photos / kubina /42275122/ 42 . http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinkspleen/2088114113/ 43 . http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/612350664/ 44. http://www.flickr.com/photos/visulogik/1744058293/in/set-72157602691462472/ 45 . http://www.flickr.com/photos/napfisk/382956990/ 46. http://www.flickr.com/photos/clickclickclickclick/2587958183/in/photostream/ 47. http://www.flickr.com/photos/monroesdragonfly/2739734655/ 48 . http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeygottawa/2154857390/in/photostream/ 49. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ckaroli/1671699914/ 50. http://www.flickr.com/photos/yoko69/482034146/ 51. http:// www.flickr.com / photos /paul_ fisk /2079495260/ 52 . http://www.flickr.com/photos/kessiye/2487581897/ 53. http://www.flickr.com/photos/frenkieb/4423393/