--- ---  # The Difference Between Good and Bad Organizations by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Jun 5, 2015 11:00 AM UTC  Ben Horowitz speaks at SXSW on March 9, 2014 in Austin, Texas. Ben Horowitz speaks at SXSW on March 9, 2014 in Austin, Texas.Travis P Ball—Getty Images by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Jun 5, 2015 11:00 AM UTC Which organization do you work for? This excerpt is from one of the best business leadership books I’ve ever read: [The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0062273205/farnamstreet-20) --- > “” --- If you liked that you’ll love the book — [The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0062273205/farnamstreet-20). You’ll also love this[insight from Charlie Munger on bureaucracies](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2012/06/what-is-a-bureaucracy-and-why-they-are-so-hard-to-change/). **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Farnam Street_**](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/)**_._** **Join over 50,000 readers and get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/newsletter/)**.** The Difference Between Good and Bad Organizations ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3818343/bad-good-organizations/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3818343/bad-good-organizations/"},"headline":"The Difference Between Good and Bad Organizations","datePublished":"2015-06-05T11:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:21:37.829Z","description":"As described by Ben Horowitz","url":"https://time.com/3818343/bad-good-organizations/","keywords":["Psychology"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d2a2e7be9796ece/6987eaa65f570f16adb1917f/ben-horowitz.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shane Parrish","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d2a2e7be9796ece/6987eaa65f570f16adb1917f/ben-horowitz.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ben Horowitz speaks at SXSW on March 9, 2014 in Austin, Texas.","caption":"Ben Horowitz speaks at SXSW on March 9, 2014 in Austin, Texas.","creditText":"Travis P Ball—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3818343/bad-good-organizations/","name":"The Difference Between Good and Bad Organizations"}}]}] ```