You can watch the slides with animations here: http://www.strategicstructures.com/?p=1511
Short description
=============
It is often said that organisations are full of paradoxes. But this refers to contradictions and tensions. It is understood as something that needs to be taken care of. When organisations are looked at as social systems, however, it becomes clear that they are only possible because of paradoxes, and particularly paradoxes of self-reference. Understanding how these paradoxes create and maintain organisations is an important skill for practitioners trying to make sense of what's going on and improve it. The basic generative organisational paradox is that of decisions. It brings new light not only on decision patterns and dependencies, but also on understanding the nature of objectives, power, and relations with clients.
1. SCIO OPEN DAY
21 JANUARY, LONDON
IVO VELITCHKOV
rganisationalOP Paradoxes
r o d u c t i v e
2. Paradoxes1.
What’s a paradox? (a reminder)
Why are paradoxes avoided?
Why they shouldn’t be, when trying to
understand social systems?
3. Growing interest in paradoxes but different perspectives
Organizational studies:
Paradoxes = tensions and
contradictions in
organisations
Social Systems Theory:
Paradoxes of self-
reference produce
social systems and they
are everywhere, at
micro and macro level
9. 1.Everything that is, exists.
2.Nothing can simultaneously be and not be.
3.Each and every thing either is or is not.
Laws of Thought
10. Nth order observation
Laws of thought
1. A=A
2. ¬(A ∧ ¬A)
3. A∨¬A
Laws of Cybernethics
a≠a .1
a ∧ ¬a .2
a∨a .3
1. identity
2. noncontradiction
3. excluded middle
1st order observation
paradox .1
ambivalence .2
control .3
Dirk Baecker, Aristotle and George Spencer-Brown, 2012
11. Nth order observation
Laws of thought
1. A=A
2. ¬(A ∧ ¬A)
3. A∨¬A
1. identity
2. noncontradiction
3. excluded middle
1st order observation
[mathematics]
George Spencer-Brown
LAWS OF FORM
[biology]
Maturana & Varela
AUTOPOIESIS
[sociology]
Niklas Luhmann
SOCIAL SYSTEMS THEORY
14. distinction
…which is an indication of:
1. The inside (emptiness, void, nothing, the unmarked
state)
2. The outside (something, the marked state)
3. The distinction as a sign (indication)
4. The distinction as on operation of making a
distinction
5. The invitation to cross from one side to the other
6. The observer, the one that makes the distinction
7. …
15. Laws of Form
= calling
= crossing
=a a re-entry
More at http://www.strategicstructures.com/?p=957
21. Reichel, A. (2011) ‘Snakes all the way down: Varela’s calculus for self-reference and the
praxis of paradise’, Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 28(4): 646-662
The form of Communication
30. 4/5
The paradoxes of decisions
Every decision has to:
1. Communicate its alternative
&
2. Communicate that it is NOT
its alternative
regret
criticism
blame
enables
32. Pr o d u c t i v e3.Why “productive”?
How to use this knowledge in practice?
33. Productive
“Productive”, because:
1. Organisations are produced by paradoxes.
2. There is productive misunderstanding between organisations.
3. Understanding organisational paradoxes can be productive.
(some practical application examples follow)
35. Managing constraints
• Deconstructing constraint “molecules”
• Suspending constraints to enable innovation
o Range of realistic expectations
o Configuration of constraints
Natural limitation
Decision-based limitation
39. My task is …
Our objective is…
I have a mandate for…
It was
decided
that…
40. time
power Decision: To implement “Business Analysis Dashboard” (BAD)
Approved “BAD” business case
“BAD” investment approved
by the High IT Board
“BAD” selected, using SWOT
Prefer Buy to Build
Trust Gartner
reports
Use SWOT in
business cases,
decided by X
Recruit X,
decided by B
B can recruit,
decided by A
Start “BAD” project
41. time
power Decision: To implement “Business Analysis Dashboard” (BAD)
Approved “BAD” business case
“BAD” investment approved
by the High IT Board
“BAD” selected, using SWOT
Prefer Buy to Build
Trust Gartner
reports
Use SWOT in
business cases,
decided by X
Recruit X,
decided by B
B can recruit,
decided by A
Start “BAD” project
46. The project
is successful
Start End 1+ years after
That project
was a
failure
That project
was
successful
The project
is a failure
Observation 3: How the evaluation evolves
A
B
47. Is it useful?
End 1+ years afterStart
Does it work? Is it used?
The 4U test
49. Two case studies from Australia
Case Study
1 (CS1)
Industry PM Scope Budget Time
Construction Same as
SC2
+ 3
items
- 0.15 % - 1.11 %
Case Study
2 (CS2)
Industry PM Scope Budget Time
Construction Same as
SC1
within + 40 % + 70 %
Source: “Project Management Yinyang: Coupling project success and client satisfaction”, 2017
Greg Usher, Stephen Jon Whitty
52. “What this orthodox organization chart leaves
out of account, when it comes to understanding
institutions, is that we are not dealing with
pistons, pumps, and distributor arms, but with
people; and the connexions between the parts
are not crankshafts, pipes, and electrical wires,
but human relationships.” (Designing Freedom)
“The heard of the enterprise is the human
being.” (The Heart of Enterprise)
Where are the people in the VSM?