What is the most important concept that any organization that comes together under any capacity has to contend with? Is it the objective, or it's stated reason for being (the why)? Operations, perhaps: how do you do what the organization has set out to do? People, you may say: who is doing the tasks (human or otherwise).

I'd argue it's none of these.

The most important concept in any organization is the concept of derivation: sourcing something from a point of origin. It may seem odd or abstract, or, conversely, it may seem like it's common sense: the problem of derivation is the single biggest constraint that prevents organizations from scaling, that accounts for mistakes, that encourages fraud, or loses revenue to competitors. Oddly, deriving things of value from base level sources allows organizations to stand out from their competitors, helps you build better systems, and encourages appropriate auditing of how you get to what you see.

(Published unfinished.)