Mechanistic and Organic Forces: An Olympic View

[Statue of Prince Yuri, founder of Moscow]

As the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi commence, it is worth using the theme of organic and mechanistic forces within organizations and societies to examine the challenge of security at the games.  As one who remembers watching the Munich Olympics in 1972 on television, I fully understand that few things are more horrible than having terrorists ruin one of the few effective global events we possess.  This is a significant concern for the Olympics at Sochi, and the publicity around this issue presents a solid example of the interplay of organic and mechanistic forces, that is, the decentralized, ingrained, “bottom up” organic behaviors within an organization or group, and the directive, “top down” mechanistic forces. 

There is no doubt that the Sochi Olympics presents a great opportunity for Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin to showcase “his” Russia – powerful, confident, and well ordered.  The Olympic venue also provides a potential target for terrorists, particularly those from the nearby Caucasus regions, where bitter feuds with Russia have existed for decades.  We have watched a vigorous effort by President Putin to ensure safety at the Olympics: a 40 thousand person security force, a “ring of steel” to protect all the sites.  Putin is conducting his final walk-through in these last days before the games begin.  All of these efforts are classic mechanistic efforts, and few nations do “top down” more vigorously than the Russians.  This effort is impressive.  Christopher Buckley in a recent article in The Wall Street Journal (Jan 31, 2014) noted, “Vigorous security is perhaps the one advantage to an Olympiad hosted by an absolutist dictatorship.”

But how much thought has been devoted to the other side of the coin, the organic forces?  Directives from above can make great sound bites, but do they really influence behavior at the ground level?  This is where I have my own concerns.  On a recent trip to Russia (2012), I noted that there were several metal detectors – at hotels, museums, and train stations.  I also noted that very few of the (usually) uniformed people monitoring them seemed to be paying any attention.  I almost always set the sensors off as I walked through, and no one responded in any manner.  I also noted that other people walking through set the detectors off, and that also drew no response.  Clearly things will be “amped up” for the Olympics, but all it requires for one terrorist to enter the venue is to have a few security checkpoints not operating to high standards.  I fear that is a strong possibility in Russia today.  Regrettably, indifference, drunkenness, and petty corruption are endemic in Russian society today.  This corrodes the effectiveness of most Russian organizations, including the armed forces and security services.  The organic forces in Russia, in almost any endeavor, are clearly not aligned with the directives from above exhorting high standards. 

The risk in a mismatch of organic and mechanistic forces is obvious in many cases, but that risk is often overlooked, especially by those at the top.  This failure of accurate assessment of organic forces frequently causes overreach by those at the top (the mechanistic drivers).  It behooves all organizations and societies to assess themselves realistically from top to bottom, and future blogs will examine the cases where the two forces are in wonderful alignment.  Let us hope that the probable misalignment at Sochi does not lead to a catastrophe.