If a manager is a person that is "requesting and initiating actions that affects others" then everybody is a manager
WF: Managers are concerned with generating and maintaining a network of conversation. (We all do)
The difference between the manager and anybody is that the manager is managing more
Has more power
Position
Connections
Commitments
Controls resources
Currency
Allowances
Punishments
Managers create routines, select routines, carry out routines to optimize the organisation (We optimise our lives)
WF avoid the term decision making since it can be associated with traditional decision making.
WF are protesting agains ideas that were obsolete already in the sixties. The trick is to:
Create an opponent with erroneous ideas
Show why the ideas are erroneous
Point at a solution to these errors
Herbert Simon claimed that Decision Making consists of heuristic search among alternatives
He claimed that all problem solving can be seen as a search problem
Maybe all problem solving can be seen as decision making
Simon showed that a problem can be solved by a heuristic application of rules to a problem definition
WF criticise the determinism of it. Where do the alternatives come from?
Keen and Scott-Morton claims that decisions in the real world are not well structured
It is not a set of alternatives but is based on routines
In psychology they claim that 99% of decisions are unconscious.
The unconscious does not calculate among alternatives since the unconscious is based on routines
We create problems when we have resources to make a decision.
We create problems when we have an ambition.
The problem preceeds the goal
The problem is the inversion of the goal
The fastest way to get rid of a problem is to create a bigger problem
Why do decision makers not create alternatives to chose among
They do not have time
It is "cheaper"and faster to guess, i.e. to select the most promising from intuition because:
The evaluation of the outcome is only related to one alternative
If the evaluation of the outcome shows the decision was wrong it can be modified
If it cannot be modified a new alternative is selected but even in this case there is a problability that less alternatives need to be considered
When are alternatives formalised enough to apply rational decision making tools
When structured data are available
When the problem area is limited
When the cost of errors is very high. You do not apply trial and error with new airplanes
We want to know what needs to be done. This implies that we look for a routine that match the situation
We automatically select routines
When we cannot find a routine we take a step back and start to reflect
This is why problems creates break-downs create thinking
When we cannot accept any of the available options we have nothing to think about
When we cannot think we detach even more in order to get a wider perspective
Separation from commitments
Depression
Freedom and new perspective
New alternative solutions
There are always new alternatives. Resolution comes when you are defining alternatives, not when you are comparing them
The manager can be seen as a traveller travelling at high speed. When one direction seems to be wrong you test other directions and look for signals that it works better. If not you steer back.
We move with the flow, with the force, using all our talents at the same time
Habits
Instinct
Reflection
Feelings
Automated perception
Think first, then act.
Don't think twice, its allright
An organisation is a living system where every transaction is related to the identity of the organisation
A breakdown tells us that we need to think which probably cause a routine to be defined, but we do not "think" unless we really have to
We try to build models of hte organisation that are as general and as consistent as possible
Managers are reactive when dirving the organisation. They need a high bonus to be active rather than reactive. Why take a risk?
Decision support systems can only be applied
when enough specific formalised information is available
when the problem can be well structured
when most of the available information can be formalised
when it does not pay to "wait and see"
Dangers with Decision Support Systems
They reinforce a particular perspective.
This is the power of routines and the name of stagnation
The tender creativity is lost since it does not pay to find modified solutions
How can you allow a person to chose and still use decision support system
By allowing hte person to drive it as a tool
Only things that the system can deal with become relevant
It creates an unintended transfer of power
It creates unanticipated effects
It obscures responsability. Who becomes responsible
It creates a false belief of objectivity
What is a speach act:
request, negotiation, commitment, transaction, completion
Speach act origination. Is it a request?
Monitoring completion. What do I have to do with this?
Monitoring temporal relations. When must this be done?
Examination of the network. Who has which relationship with who?
Automated application of recurrence. If the invoice is not paid at date X
Recurrence of propositional content. When out of paper send an order for more paper.
The decision making power is related to all earlier decisions
Every decision release energy
The reason you cannot decide is taht you cannot afford to decide
Once all basic decisions are made you control the harmony of an ever increasing power in decision making