Why companies should welcome disorder: reading answers and analysis

Which heading sums up Section A?

We are told that we ought to organise our company, our home life, our week, our day and even our sleep, all as a means to becoming more productive.

Why: vi. A is about the pressure to organise everything: we are 'told' we 'ought to' organise, and there are more strategies than ever. 'Increasingly expected' covers both the pressure and the growth.

The trap: iii (early recommendations) can look right because A is about advice on organising, but A is about today's advice. The early recommendations are Taylor's, in C.

Which heading sums up Section B?

Work-related stress has increased. A large proportion of workers from all demographics claim to be dissatisfied with the way their work is structured and the way they are managed.

Why: i. B shows the results of the organising trend: more failed businesses, more stress, and workers saying they're unhappy with how they're organised and managed. Those are complaints about the impact of the approach.

The trap: v (companies that suffered from changing approach) tempts because B mentions businesses failing, but it never says they failed because they changed their approach.

Which heading sums up Section C?

Writing in the first half of the 20th century, he designed a number of principles to improve the efficiency of the work process

Why: iii. Taylor wrote in the early 20th century and was a 'forefather' of scientific management. His principles for efficient work are the 'early recommendations concerning business activities'.

The trap: vi fits the idea that companies have adopted the principles widely, but C's focus is on where the approach came from, not on what people are expected to do now.

Which heading sums up Section D?

it's the basic assumptions we hold in approaching how we work. Here it's the assumption that order is a necessary condition for productivity.

Why: ii. D says the problem isn't the methods but the 'basic assumptions' behind them, mainly that order is needed for productivity, and calls the obsession 'misguided'. Basic assumptions are 'fundamental beliefs', and misguided means incorrect.

The trap: i can seem possible because D criticises the approach, but D doesn't report anyone's complaints. It says the thinking behind the approach is wrong.

Which heading sums up Section E?

if the cost of formally structuring something outweighs the benefit of doing it, then that thing ought not to be formally structured

Why: ix. E reports studies showing that order helps only up to a point, after which more order reduces productivity. When the cost outweighs the benefit, order brings more disadvantages than advantages.

The trap: viii (neither approach guarantees improvement) fits E's 'diminishing returns', but E only talks about order. Both order and disorder are covered only in H.

Which heading sums up Section F?

These environments can lead to new solutions that, under conventionally structured environments… would never be reached.

Why: vii. F gives a method (an environment with no structure or hierarchy) and says it leads to solutions that conventional structures would never reach. That's how to achieve outcomes that are impossible today.

The trap: iv (organisations putting a new approach into practice) tempts, but F gives no real companies. The examples are in G.

Which heading sums up Section G?

In recent times companies have slowly started to embrace this disorganisation.

Why: iv. G names real companies (Oticon, General Electric, Google) that have adopted less structured ways of working. That's organisations putting the new approach into practice.

The trap: v (companies that suffered from changing) is the near miss. Oticon's results were 'highly successful initially', and nothing in G describes a company suffering.

Which heading sums up Section H?

the evidence so far suggests disorder, much like order, also seems to have diminishing utility, and can also have detrimental effects on performance if overused

Why: viii. H warns that disorder, like order, stops helping after a point and can harm performance if overused. Neither keeps improving things forever.

The trap: ix (more disadvantages than advantages) sounds close, but it was used for E, and H stresses balance between the two, not one approach being worse.

Do businesses and people chase order without thinking about whether it's worth it?

businesses and people spend time and money organising themselves for the sake of organising, rather than actually looking at the end goal and usefulness of such an effort

Why: TRUE. Organising 'for the sake of organising' without looking at its 'usefulness' is aiming at order without considering its value.

Does innovation work best when people have clear, separate roles?

the best approach is to create an environment devoid of structure and hierarchy and enable everyone involved to engage as one organic group

Why: FALSE. The passage says the best way to innovate is with no structure or hierarchy, with everyone acting as one group. Distinct roles are a form of the structure the passage rejects.

The trap: NOT GIVEN is tempting because 'roles' isn't in F. But 'devoid of structure and hierarchy' and 'one organic group' directly contradict people having separate roles.

Did General Electric's success inspire Google to become flexible?

Google and a number of other tech companies have embraced (at least in part) these kinds of flexible structures, facilitated by technology and strong company values

Why: NOT GIVEN. G lists Google after GE as another example, but gives no reason why Google did it except that technology and company values made it possible. Nothing links Google's choice to GE.

The trap: The two companies sit in neighbouring sentences, so it's easy to read cause into the order. The passage never says one inspired the other.