“Sing men, sing men,
Once then twice then sing again,
For the ever onward IBM!” – IBM Fight Song

The corporation is a collective soul.

You have always known it, known it from your perfect, well disciplined hair to the tip of your high-polished wing-tip shoes. The god is the stock price, the high priest is the CEO, and the Curia of the new faith is the Board of Directors. It takes nothing more than a concept – the existance of a person who is not a person, the corporate binome, and turns it into money, prosperity, and a purpose.

Your purpose.

The Organization Man is drawn to conservative suits and ties, golf, and lunch at a good place to “network” for the betterment of his organization. Day planners, commemorative paperweights, and BIG desks are favored. Titles, organizational charts, memos and employee handbooks are the sacred texts of his faith. Cliche’s such as “There is no “I” in TEAM,” and “The only place that SUCCESS comes before WORK is in the dictionary!” are beloved of this archtype.

He seeks, not so much to get rich (though that’s a necessary part of his plan) but to rise to power in the living, breathing construct that is the Corporation.

Anything that smacks of disloyalty to the Corporation – muttering discontent (though employees are fair game – only criticising the organization itself weakens the mystic conduit). Non-conformity, or attempts to assert one’s individuality are also frowned upon. Getting fired or reprimanded is disasterous, as is “whistle-blowing.” Doing the perp walk will absolutely sever the tie to the archtype.

The problem is that capitalism is an inherently competitive game. Even more so than the normal Godwalker rat race. Any avatar of the Organization Man gains the tens digit of another avatar of the Organization Man that he causes to fall out of favor. Thus if he caused a fellow avatar of the Organization Man with a skill of 76 to fall, he would gain seven percentiles on his avatar skill. This only works with fellow avatars of the Organization Man.

Masks: Larry Tate (of BEWITCHED fame) Ozzie Nelson, Mr. Dithers (BLONDIE), and the Pointy-Haired Boss of DILBERT.

Suspected Avatars: John D. Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan and Jack Welch were certainly powerful representatives of the Organization Man, and the bids for Godwalker status by Ivan Boesky and Michael Millken rocked the headlines. The precipitous fall of Kevin Ley at Enron, and the attempted destruction of Bill Gates in the public mind are evidence of the difficulty and viciousness of the competitiveness involved in the career of the organization man.

CHANNELS:

NOTE: Primarily governmental organizations cannot be manipulated by the first two channels. Government and the Corporate world, although incestuous, are seperate in the basis of their ontological power. Some channels will work on the local crew of the Cosa Nostra, but not on City Hall. Go Figure.

1-50: The Organization Man can “learn the ropes” with startling speed. By reading annual reports, SEC disclosures, hanging out with employees at the local coffee shop, and chatting with “the boys” at the country club for one week, the avatar knows who the real powers are in each section of any predominantly legal organization – who is considered an “up-and-comer” and who is on the outs. He will know the gestalt of the organization thoroughly, as if he had been an employee of the organization for years. He will also have made a few friends at a low level of the command structure who can be counted on for minor favors.

51-70: The career of the Organization Man is, by necessity, a series of Machiavellian moments and inside power-plays. By use of this channel, the Organization Man can start rumors within an organization (legal or not) that the whole company (or cabal, or church, or mob) is either “coming unglued” or “sound as the dollar.” He can start any plausible rumor he wishes to start, and the organization will begin to believe it. Furthermore, the general public will begin to believe it as the news “leaks” to the outside world. This is very powerful stuff that may well affect stock prices, promotions and demotions, news stories or governmental investigations. He can use this channel to create a stellar reputation for himself, or manipulate stock prices to make himself fabulously wealthy.

71-90: At this level, the corporate savvy of the Organization man extends to regulators and elected officials. In addition to the above effects, the Organization Man has an insight into human motivation that acts like the Plutomancers “I Know Your Price” spell. He need not expend charges, a roll on the avatar skill and a half hour spent in a “heart-to-heart sit down” will do. Note that the target must willingly sit and converse with the Organization Man.

91+: The Captain of Industry is now an internationally recognized man of commerce (and a big, fat-cat target.) He will command respect from anyone who has regard for the traditional, buisness oriented, western way of life. Presidents will seek his counsel, major banks and corproations will seek him out to serve on their boards. He can obtain loans, favors, and favorable stories in major news outlets by a mere excercise of will. The “I Know Your Price” channel is now always on, and will function with as little as a willing handshake.

Welcome to the top of the food chain. Now let’s see you stay there…