Definition of Organizational Forms

The previous section outlined the significance of organizations and the basic logic of individuals forming organizations. Returning to the observation of organizations, we find various forms of organizations around us, from human organs and ant colonies to companies, cities, and nations. Although they are all organizations, they exhibit different forms and characteristics. Before delving deeper into organizational logic, it is necessary to introduce attributes that systematically distinguish among organizations across various dimensions.

Connate and Dis-connate Organizations

Here, I propose a concept: the connate and dis-connate nature of organizations. The attributes of connate and dis-connate nature can be understood as describing two extreme states of organizational forms, with all organizations positioned somewhere between these two extremes.

Extreme connate nature implies that individual members of an organization exist within the organization from the moment of their emergence. This default state of being part of the organization makes it impossible for individuals to exist independently outside the organization, reflecting a strong dependency between the individual and the organization. dis-connate nature implies that individual members do not belong to the organization at their inception and can choose to join or leave the organization based on their own interests.

The closer an organization’s relationship with its individuals leans toward connate nature, the higher the dependency between the individual and the organization, and the greater the cost and risk of leaving the organization. In organizations near the connate extreme, individuals are typically part of the organization from their inception. A typical example is biological organ tissues, where individual cells can hardly leave the organization through their own will or intent, and it is extremely difficult for cells to survive independently after leaving. Such organizations typically evolve and optimize through internal individual mutations, competition between different organizations, and non-directional elimination due to environmental changes. Moreover, the consciousness of individual members in such organizations is typically weak or nonexistent, and compared to the lifespan of individual members, the evolutionary and decline cycles of these organizations are extremely long, often many times longer than the lifespan of their individuals.

If an organization’s relationship with its individuals leans toward dis-connate nature, the dependency between the individual and the organization is lower, and thus the cost and risk of leaving the organization are also lower. In such organizational scenarios, individuals typically do not belong to the organization at their inception, or even if they do, they can relatively easily leave it. A typical example is a company, where individuals do not belong to the organization at birth and can choose to join different companies based on their needs after reaching adulthood. They can even join multiple organizations simultaneously, and individuals can survive relatively easily after leaving the organization. The evolution of such organizations is typically more efficient, with significant internal structural changes achievable through external competition. Moreover, compared to the lifespan of individuals, the evolutionary cycle of such organizations is shorter, often only a fraction or even a small fraction of an individual’s lifespan.

Different organizations exist somewhere between these two extreme states, with those closer to the connate extreme exhibiting connate characteristics and those closer to the dis-connate extreme displaying dis-connate characteristics.

Entry Point for Organizational Theory Setting and Construction

The purpose of “Organization Setting of Intelligenism” and subsequent chapters is to introduce the principles and ideas for constructing organizations under the Intelligenism framework. Considering the classification of connate and dis-connate nature in organizational forms, studying and practicing organizational forms closer to the dis-connate extreme is more practical for Intelligenism organizations. This is because individuals can choose to join or establish organizations based on their own will, the organizational form iterates and optimizes more efficiently, and the cost and risk of individuals leaving the organization are lower. Therefore, the application of the Intelligent Consortium in commercial or quasi-commercial scenarios will be the main direction explored in this book.