Necrosis
Uncontrolled cell death caused by external factors like injury, infection, or lack of blood supply. Unlike apoptosis (programmed death), necrosis is chaotic and can damage surrounding tissue.
Used in the Books
This term appears in 2 chapters:
"... location, wrong signals from neighbors - all can trigger apoptosis. And the cell carries out its own destruction. This requires energy. A dead cell (necrosis) is different from an apoptotic cell. Necrosis is failure. Apoptosis is intentional. **Your body kills 50-70 billion cells every single day."
""Flat is good" ideology taken too far. Biological analog: Insufficient vascular branching - tissues are under-perfused, causing necrosis. Fix: - Add layers: Introduce management roles where coordination is needed - Narrow span: Split large teams into smaller teams with ded..."
Biological Context
Necrotic cells swell and burst, releasing their contents and triggering inflammation. Gangrene is necrosis of tissue. Heart attacks cause necrosis of heart muscle deprived of blood. The body walls off necrotic tissue but cannot easily recycle it like apoptotic cells.
Business Application
Organizational necrosis: uncontrolled failure of business units that damages surrounding parts of the organization. Unlike planned wind-downs (apoptosis), necrotic failures spread chaos—unpaid vendors, stranded customers, demoralized employees.