Postcapitalist society is both a knowledge society and a society of organizations, each dependent on the other and yet each very different in its concepts, views, and values. Specialized knowledge by itself produces nothing. It can become productive only when it is integrated into a task. And this is why the knowledge society is also a society of organizations: the purpose and function of every organization, business and nonbusiness alike, is the integration of specialized knowledges into a common task. It is only the organization that can provide the basic continuity that knowledge workers need to be effective. It is only the organization that can convert the specialized knowledge of the knowledge worker into performance.

Intellectuals see the organization as a tool; it enables them to practice their techne, their specialized knowledge. Managers see knowledge as a means to the end of organizational performance. Both are right. They are opposites; but they relate to each other as poles rather than as contradictions. If the two balance each other there can be creativity and order, fulfillment and mission.

ACTION POINT: Write a letter to your boss and colleagues describing the contributions you expect to make. Indicate your understanding of how your contributions integrate into the contributions of your colleagues to produce results for the organization.

Managing in a Time of Great Change
Post-Capitalist Society