The Leader's Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative, Revised and Updated

12.10. LEADERSHIP THAT AVOIDS "APOLLO RUN AMOK"

Now that Apollonian culture, along with its attendant control mode of management, is everywhere triumphant, the modern workplace often feels as though it has fallen head over heels in love with order. Earlier in this chapter, I discussed the reasons that the Apollonian culture emerged as a result of the forces of bigness and consistency. In fact, the control mode sets out with the best of intentions—that of establishing order out of the potential chaos into which large organizations would otherwise tumble.

But when the love of order becomes extreme, it can undermine the very condition of harmony that it is trying to achieve. The ancient Greeks recognized the phenomenon and—as usual—encapsulated ...