Organizational dynamics and decision strategy in the controversy about Galileo Galilei

The problem addressed by this study was the relationship between a formal organization and the informal monitoring network organized around that formal organization. The long-running Galileo controversy, which involves the Catholic Church as the formal organization and a multitude of scientists, philosophers, historians, and theologians as the informal network, was used as the basis for a historical case study. The research questions asked whether there are detectable patterns in the way that the organizations interact, and what theory can be developed about the controllable variables of the controversy, modeled as organizational-dynamic attractors. Theoretical foundations of the study reside in organizational theory and in information theory, combining time series evaluation and data mining concepts. The research design incorporated the method of clustering events using a Hamming distance function in order to correlate dynamic attractors with consequential event properties. Results of the study include a discovery that the suppression of innovation and hence lost progress in the advancement of paradigm shifts affecting the human social condition can be attributed to a specific combination of factors and reward systems controllable by management. In addition, dynamic attractors that correlate well with successful outcome of a controversy were identified and related to the organizational learning theory of Argyris and the durable-organization theory of Collins and Porras. Implications for positive social change include a better understanding of the relationship between the treatment of constructively creative thinkers and achievers and the improvement of any dysfunctional relationship between an organization and its monitoring environment.