This article presents a practice theory for diagnosing organizations -that
is, a combination of many ideas in a relatively simple framework that can
be applied in various settings. It brings together organization/environ
ment, sociotechnical, and formal/informal systems concepts, and pro
poses six broad categories for looking at an organization: purposes; struc
ture ; relationships; rewards; leadership; and helpful mechanisms. The
author illustrates how these six factors influence each other and provides
clues about what to diagnose in each category, considering the infinite
number of possibilities. He also suggests that what are called "process"
issues show up as blocked work that can be freed by understanding and
intervening in one or more of the six boxes.
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