Art as a depiction of management

An American friend who does some artistic work in her retirement has posted a thought on her blog.

This design caused my mind to go back about 40 years and some sketches we  (a bunch of lowly public servants) made to illustrate some thought processes of the high priced help in our organisation.

The first of these models was a series of fences with gaps in.
The eye, representing the young workers was trying to get a glimpse of the bosses' objective, which some may think of as an ivory tower.  Do not be fooled by the clear line of sight depicted!   Just when you thought you knew what you were doing the castle would shift slightly, as indicated by the arrows, and disappear from view.

The second example was the spiral ditch.
The gold star objective is clearly visible at all times but it not possible to go directly there.  (Did I mention the flying piranhas in the ditches?)  Plod on following due process and eventually you'll get there.  We found that the solution to this process involved lots of beer.

I have received another example - perhaps relating to the art of sculpture. 

  • A boss asks a minion to get a rock. So minion rushes out and chooses a rock, On presenting it to the boss she is told. "No, not that rock, get another."

(My personal thought is that they should have chosen a bright shiny rock.  Bosses like bright shiny things.)

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