# Organizational Cores - Proposition By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2025-09-28 Large organizations are inherently bureaucratic. Under bureaucracy, employees are designed to be interchangeable cogs in the machine. When the organization is in a steady state of operation, if a person quits, retires, or dies, an existing employee will be transferred into the slot, and a new employee will enter the system. When the organization is at a point of transition, more employees can be brought in, let go, or transferred where needed. This is how things go in theory, and to a degree in operation. Much of daily work execution could occur irrespective of the people in the organization. What they do and how they do it could, in fact, be done by another, perhaps anybody. However true this might be in the main, it isn’t so universally. There are organizational cores that are not interchangeable. The core is not necessarily those holding elite positions within the organization. It could simply be a subset of individuals who, through their unique actions, make a significant contribution to the value of the organization. Organizations have problems understanding their organizational cores because they run contrary to the assumptions of bureaucracy. Even if they understand the organizational core, they often want to ignore or minimize it, as it would give too much status and power to those operating within the core. Those who are part of the organizational core know it. Performance outcomes and quality of work experience reveal the reality; they are meaningfully engaged in doing important work of value. Attention is given to advancement, as if advancement provides the basis of rewarding experiences. It can, but it doesn’t have to deliver. Almost no attention is given to becoming a productive member of the organizational core. This aspect of work can’t ever be admitted, as it betrays the fact that most work isn’t part of the core. Maybe it is required. Often it is not. Either way, the work outside the core doesn’t provide the level of dynamic engagement and solidarity that is available within the organizational core. External validation occurs through organizational advancement. Personal fulfillment comes from working in an organizational core. The secret is that an organizational core is available to anybody who starts working in solidarity with others to produce something of value in a way that is fulfilling and engaging. Resist being a cog; form an organizational core. #### Related Items [[Organization]] [[Bureaucracy]] [[Work]] [[Solidarity]] [[Fulfillment]] [[Engagement]]