The Organizational Absurdity Research Program
The Organizational Absurdity Research Program studies early signals of systemic strain in organizations, examining how contradictions surface in language, behavior, and everyday work.
The Research Question
Core Question
How do early signals of systemic contradiction appear inside organizations before structural failure becomes visible?
Supporting Questions
Supporting questions:
• How do early signals of contradiction appear in everyday organizational language and behavior?
• How do organizations interpret these signals and translate them into effective decisions?
Research Scope (4 Domains)
1. Absurdity Signals
2. Organizational Sensemaking
2. Organizational Sensemaking
This domain studies the early signals that appear when organizational systems experience contradiction or strain. Humor, satire, paradoxical language, and behavioral adaptations often surface before formal indicators detect instability.
Guiding questions
• What signals appear in everyday organizational language and behavior when systems experience contradiction?
• How do these signals emerge before structural problems become formally visible?
2. Organizational Sensemaking
2. Organizational Sensemaking
2. Organizational Sensemaking
This domain examines how individuals and groups interpret emerging signals and construct shared meaning about what is happening in their environment. It explores how narratives and language shape collective understanding under uncertainty.
Guiding questions
• How do organizations interpret early signals and translate them into shared meaning?
• When do signals become amplified, ignored, or distorted during collective sensemaking?
3. Orientation and Decision Dynamics
This domain investigates how organizations maintain or lose orientation under conditions of complexity and pressure. It studies how structural constraints influence coordination, judgment, and decision making.
Guiding questions
• What conditions help individuals and teams maintain orientation in complex environments?
• How does orientation loss influence decision quality and coordination?
4. Practice and Intervention
This domain translates research insights into practical frameworks that help leaders and practitioners respond more effectively to emerging signals and systemic contradictions.
Guiding questions
• How can leaders detect systemic signals earlier in their organizations?
• What practices strengthen collective sensemaking and adaptive decision making?
Research Architecture
The Organizational Absurdity Research Program examines these dynamics through a structured research architecture that collects field observations, analyzes emerging signal patterns, and develops diagnostic tools.
Our Field Observation Network
Many of the observations informing the research emerge through the Behaving Badly HQ Field Network,
a community of practitioners and observers who document everyday examples of organizational contradictions
and emerging signals in modern work environments.
These field observations provide an ongoing stream of real-world material that helps identify recurring patterns
and signal dynamics across institutions.
Research Outputs
Research Publications
The research program publishes findings through reports and working papers that document emerging insights and frameworks.
Workplace Absurdities Report
Larger-scale research examining patterns of strain and systemic pressure across modern organizations. Produced on an annual basis.
Field Paper Series
Working research papers exploring emerging concepts, frameworks, and signal patterns identified through the research program.