Chapter 9: Design by Compromise

1. For centuries in biology the "great divide" classified all living things as members of either the plant or animal kingdoms. But the electron microscope showed that plant and animal cells are virtually identical, except for the presence or absence of chloroplasts. Neither one could be the forebearer of the other.

2. The most radical difference is between bacteria (prokaryotic cells) and all other cells (eukaryotic). Bacteria contain no organelles. This is the true "great divide" among organisms.

3. Multicellular life's most impressive feature has been its tendency to branch into an ever-more-amazing array of species. Endlessly shifting evolutionary pressures reshuffled collections of cells into organisms of every conceivable size and shape.

4. Every fundamental trend eventually runs up against an equally potent counterforce. In the case of the trend toward greater complexity, the constraint was the cost of coordination.

5. Within the limits imposed by a fixed quantity of resources, 3.5 billion years of evolution came up with organic designs that struck workable compromises between the benefits and costs of size and complexity.

6. In business, the drive for greater efficiency and the attempt to avoid the intense competition in crowded niches also propels a spontaneous evolution of larger and more complex organizations.

7. A proprietor who gives up the solitary life and becomes part of the work of a team or corporation is, in effect, making a transition from economic bacterium to organelle.

8. Like interdependent organelles, cooperating workers enhance the overall efficiency of the cells in which they labor. The crucial difference between organelles and workers is that human workers can learn new skills and take on new duties, but organelles cannot.

9. As in nature, the size and structure of an organization must be appropriate to the specific requirements of its niche.

10. Because conditions in every market niche keep changing, no organizational design is permanent. Oscillating between centralized and decentralized designs, companies seek but never find the perfect organizational structure.