The work of organizing with giant hairballs and wicked problems

Mark Addleson

Chapter Chapter 7 in Beyond Management, 2011, pp 77-97 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract Conventional thinking about work is hopelessly out of date and completely wrong, but, somehow, survives. In personnel procedures, training programs, job descriptions, and management practices in general, work consists of specific, separate, named activities, like “writing reports,” “archiving material,” “drawing up contracts,” “designing customer surveys,” “developing training courses,” and more. Work is measurable— both the effort and the results. Many business organizations bill their clients by the hour and managers expect “measurable outcomes” for each bit of work. Work is also what individuals do, alone. Who knows of an organization that pays its teams or work groups for their collective efforts? It is easy to see that these practices are hand-me-downs from the days of factory-work on production lines.

Keywords: Social Space; Corporate Culture; Knowledge Worker; Senior Executive; Wicked Problem (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-34341-2_7

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DOI: 10.1057/9780230343412_7

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