Why has it taken the automobile industry so long to adapt to the cry for smaller cars? Why does a film production group leave its conglomerate company to start on its own? Why do so many public hospitals and universities wither under government controls? These questions can be answered in many ways, with lots of reasons. But one reason common to them all, the author of this article would say, is that some element in the organization’s design was ill suited to the task. Large machine bureaucracies are perfect for efficient mass production but not for adapting quickly to new situations.