Organizational Personages – Or is it Really a Square World?

Organizational Personages – Or is it Really a Square World?

J. Hobbit

https://doi.org/10.2307/41164081

Source: WeLib

J. Hobbit’s essay Organizational Personages—Or is it Really a Square World? is a playful critique of management theory. He argues that the “square” models used in organizations, like grids and matrices, oversimplify human personality. Instead, he suggests using a tetrahedron (a four-sided shape) to show how different personality extremes can combine. At the base are three “misfits”: the Professional (focused only on outside standards), the Gung-Ho (totally absorbed in company goals), and the Cool (living only for the moment). On their own, these types are flawed, and combinations along the edges create other problematic figures. But at the apex of the tetrahedron, the traits balance into the ideal: a self-actualizing person who blends professional integrity, organizational commitment, and present vitality. Hobbit concludes that while this ideal is rare, moving beyond “square” thinking gives us a richer, more realistic way to understand people in organizations.

J. Hobbit is the satirical pseudonym used by Lyman W. Porter (1930–2015), a pioneering figure in organizational behavior and a former Dean at the University of California, Irvine. Published in the California Management Review in 1967, the article allowed Porter to step away from his empirical research on expectancy theory to offer a witty critique of the era’s rigid personality modeling. The pen name was a deliberate nod to J.R.R. Tolkien’s work, which was gaining massive popularity on 1960s college campuses, symbolizing the individualistic “little guy” resisting a “square,” mechanized corporate world. This connection has been widely acknowledged by colleagues in academic tributes and documented in the journal’s historical indices.

5 Mei 27 Mei 28 April 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 Aparatur Sipil Negara (ASN) April 2023 Dokumen Dokumen Kinerja Dokumen Perencanaan Februari 2024 Februari 2025 Inspektorat Daerah Jabatan Fungsional Perencana Januari 2024 Kecamatan Kementerian Dalam Negeri Kinerja Laporan Hasil Evaluasi Laporan Hasil Evaluasi AKIP Laporan Hasil Evaluasi AKIP Tahun 2022 Laporan Hasil Evaluasi AKIP Tahun 2023 Laporan Hasil Evaluasi AKIP Tahun 2024 Mei 2024 Mei 2025 Music Music Album Musrenbang Musrenbang Desa Musrenbang Kecamatan Musrenbang RKPD Musrenbang RKPD Tahun 2025 Peraturan Bupati Pirate Rencana Kerja Pemerintah Daerah Rencana Pembangunan Jangka Menengah Daerah RKPD Tahun 2025 SAKIP SAKIP Tahun 2024 Sekretariat Daerah Surat Edaran