System tinkerer par excellence, I've always approached organizational functioning the way Rube Goldberg put contraptions together (he was an early influence).  

Applying my art in the not-for-profit sector, tinkering has been an organic and almost symbiotic style since so much in this sector is done in spite of the tools that are handed you ("they give you shovels with which to move mountains.")   I think the style lends itself well to any organization however.

It consists of treating the organization as a living entity and being willing to jump in, frolic and get to play with all its parts, drink of all its juices and ride its currents.  I liken it to riding a bicycle; actually, lately, I've been experiencing it as crawling on this giant web where everyone else feels your movements and you feel everyone else's.

I've plied my trade over the years in the following sectors:  communication disorders. deafness habilitation and rehabilitation,  mental retardation, AIDS, elder and intergenerational programming. For the past thirty years. I've been directing Highland Valley Elder Services, Inc., promoting Quality Long Living in this wonderful western section of Massachusetts.  This position has given me the chance to shape an organization over time. Absorbing the forces, internal and external, which press upon an organization and to which it reacts, I've developed the sense of resilience and respect for a life bigger than the usual theories that is inherent in the web analogy above.  Chaos theory and spirituality have helped understand these forces and empowerment philosophies have helped inspire the direction I've always tried to point to.  

It has been a treat to discover my own strengths and challenges amidst the organizations I have experienced.  I have also loved being exposed to the underside or fallout of social policy in the human service sector over these many years.  The complex relationship between societal values, levels of government, professional and public attitudes and the private sector all conspire to weave a larger web fitting for a Spiderman!

I would love to dialogue about organizational functioning - send me your reaction to these remarks.