Thick and bold
Under the influence of social media, most people now prefer to scan rather than read. Skim through something, or quickly absorb something or move on. There is no deep enough reflection because the mind does not stop, ask questions, find answers, and then continue asking questions...
For those who like to read and ponder, this book will be a precious gift. In my opinion, this is the first book written about a modern organization in Vietnam in a thick description style.
Thick description is a concept introduced by anthropologist Clifford Geertz in his book The Interpretation of Cultures, developing the previous concept of the same name by philosopher Gilbert Ryle. In short, thick description differs from thin description in that instead of just describing what we observe, we also provide analysis of what we see, based on theoretical and practical understanding of the observed object. The deeper the analysis, the thicker the description. It must be said that up to now, most books on Vietnamese culture (culture in general, not corporate culture) are thin descriptions, even those written by famous people.
From a practical perspective, the analysis in this book is certainly unsurpassed because it is written by an insider who has held all the most important decisions of the organization.
In terms of theory, they are based on a theory of organizational culture that is considered to be the most effective and popular to date - Edgar Schein's theory. The fact that it is based on this theory itself requires the authors to analyze deeply, because its 3-layer model requires an attempt to penetrate the assumptions at the 3rd layer. Because these assumptions are unconscious, when trying to bring them up to the conscious level to understand, we can only approach and not reach an absolute truth, just as we can only understand a person at an approximate level.
The analysis in the book really took a lot of the authors' brainpower, different from the stereotypical instant noodle conclusions of the achievement report "thanks to the wisdom of the leaders, solidarity, and tireless efforts of the entire people, we overcame difficulties and won".
If an organization is like a person, then this book is an attempt to describe a psychological case, recounting the behavior with analysis from the perspective of psychoanalysis, developmental psychology, social psychology, and other related psychological theories. Such understanding helps to describe, analyze, predict, and think of possible and useful adjustments. We are certainly not that person, but reading this case will help us understand ourselves better, thereby taking effective actions.
Phan Phuong Dat - Advisor to FSOFT Board of Directors - Co-author of Knowing Nothing, Still Progressing