La logique de l'informel

This book provides keys to better understand the informal dynamic of company operations. The author relies on his experience as consultant and business sociologist to explain the informal mechanisms that influence behaviors in daily operations: power games, defense of our identity, etc. It is a demanding read, given the very conceptual style and the frequent use of technical or abstract vocabulary. However, a clear and structured presentation, highlighting concrete examples and relying on many diagrams, largely eases the reader’s task. The first chapter represents a valuable introduction to provide a framework for the concepts that are subsequently developed. The author uses the metaphor of an architect manager, whose blind trust in formal levers exposes him to much disappointment. The main concepts that enable decoding the informal operations of organizations are presented in the chapters 3 and 6: limited rationality, zones of uncertainty, identity, forecasting models, etc. Reading them is indispensable as they represent, in our view, the heart of the book.