The Gervais Principle

Here's an absolutely fascinating and insightful article about the psychology of company structures and lifecycles and the different roles people play within them, using the TV show The Office as an example:

The Gervais Principle, or The Office according to The Office

(This is from last year, but I didn't see it then, and it just got reposted on Hacker News. Long but worth reading all of it.)

It's quite dark and slightly cynical, but it's also pretty much spot on. Suddenly the business world makes sense.