Why Do Organizations Have a “Top”? (The Theory of Wringable Necks)

Organizations have a top for two reasons: accounting and accountability purposes. In our organizations we need "single wringable necks" and modular, replaceable parts so we can distribute risk and seek remedy as necessary. We need to know the parties we can rely on and those from whom we can seek remedy. In a way we are distributing our risks and interests to many players; outsourcing.

When it comes to organizing things, we like to "pool" our resources amongst many players; but we like each of them to have a very clear role and responsibility (jobs).

Take the case of cloud computing: "Put it in the cloud." (A single, centralized place). The redundancy in the cloud is the thing that *would* make us trust it. We as people rarely trust single entities alone, in isolation. We frequently create backups and distribute our risk; we often "trust but verify".

We need the things in our lives to do specific jobs for us so we can rely upon them for living our purposes. The only way to manage in this outsourced context in my opinion is to make our things' responsibilities very clear; oftentimes contractual. When the things aren't living up to their responsibilities and agreements, then we need to change them, the contracts, or start wringing wringable necks.