ABSTRACT
Philosophy, Assumptions, Theories of Organizing and Practices (PATOP) is one of the most enjoyable experiences to go away on a management retreat and 'do' strategic planning. PATOP was designed as a model for 'reflective thinking and diagnosis in organizations'. It is a framework for matching what is said and what is done from either the viewpoint of the manager, worker or other involved groups such as customers. The sense of matching, of alignment of meaning is a centrepiece of the PATOP model. The human at work as a social being would be nearer the mark sometimes than the human as rational economic. This was the basis of philosophy presented by one of the greatest management thinkers and an Australian, Fred Emery. The work of Fred Emery and his colleagues is well described in the book Participative Design for Participative Democracy. This one idea led to an overturning of Taylorist principles and a new theory called socio-technical systems.
