Designing Non-Routine Knowledge Work

Carolyn Ordowich and Douglas Austrom, Ph.D.

Five Forces Shifting the Nature of WorkGratton

CONTEXT OF WORK

TECHNOLOGY

GLOBALIZATIONDEMOGRAPHY and

LONGEVITY

EN

ER

GY

R

ES

OU

RC

ES

• Technological capability increases exponentially

• Five billion become connected• The cloud becomes ubiquitous• Continuous productivity gains• Social participation increases

• The world’s knowledge becomes digitalized• Mega-companies & micro-entrepreneurs

emerge• Ever-present avatars and virtual worlds• Rise of cognitive assistants• Technology replaces jobs

• 24/7 global world

• Emerging economies

• China & India decades of growth

• Frugal innovation

• Global educational powerhouses

• World becomes urban

• Continued financial bubbles and crashes

• Regional underclass emerge

• Families become rearranged

• The rise of reflexivity

• The role of powerful women

• The balanced man

• Growing distrust of institutions

• The decline of happiness

• Passive leisure increases

• Energy prices increase• Environmental

catastrophes displace people

• A culture of sustainability begins to emerge

• Ascendance of Gen Y

• Increasing longevity

• Some Baby Boomers grow old poor

• Global migration increases

Task Uncertainty / Ambiguity

Com

plex

ity

L

H

Routine Non-routine

“Manual”Work

Knowledge Work

Change in nature of work

Mixed Models

Mixed Models

Efficiency

EffectivenessInnovation

QualityFlexibility

ServiceSustainability

Efficiency

Shifting Nature of Work

• Degree/nature of interdependence

• Volatility• Virtuality - time

zones, ICT, language, geography

• X-boundaries - functional/ discipline, organizational, sector, national, cultural

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What is Non-Routine Knowledge Work? • The primary task of knowledge work is non-routine

problem solving that requires a combination of convergent, divergent, and creative thinking (Reinhardt, Schmidt, Sloep, &Drachsler 2011). Knowledge work is typically non-repeated, unpredictable, and emergent.

• Knowledge work primarily involves the management of unstructured or semi-structured problems (Keen & Morton, 1978) characterized by imprecise information inputs, varying degrees of detail, extended or unfixed time horizons, dispersed information formats, and diffuse or general scope (Pava, 1983).

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Evolution of Sociotechnical SystemsThree Waves

Wave One: 1950’s-1970’s

Wave Three: 1990’s-Present

Wave Two: 1970’s-1990’s

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Evolution of Sociotechnical SystemsWave One: 1950’s-1970’s

Nature of the Work Design Principles*

• Routine work in single organizations

• Work groups with shared identity

• Single linear conversion process

• Joint optimization• Compatibility• Sociotechnical criterion

and variance control• Boundary location• Information flow• Design and human values• Multifunctional principle:

mechanism or organism• Support congruence• Transitional organization• Minimum critical

specification• Incompletion

* Albert Cherns, 1976

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Evolution of Sociotechnical SystemsWave Two: 1970’s-1990’s

Nature of the Work Design Principles**

• Non-routine face-to-face knowledge work in single organizations

• Individual performers with specialized expertise

• Multiple, concurrent nonlinear conversion processes

• Joint optimization• Self-design by the

members of the unit being changed

• Specify only those things that must be defined allowing for ongoing adaptation

• Multi-functionality and redundancy of functions

• Iterative and open-ended design process

* Cal Pava, 1983

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Evolution of Sociotechnical SystemsWave Three: 1990’s- Present

Nature of the Work Design Principles• Virtual, non-routine work• Work and workers

distributed across multiple locations and/or organizations

• Information and communication technology enabled

• Multiple, concurrent, nonlinear, independent, and interdependent conversion processes

• An iVUCA world***

• Whole systems optimization• Align on shared purpose and

mutually beneficial outcomes

• Promote dignity, meaning, challenge, mastery, autonomy, and self-determination

• Foster learning and knowledge sharing

• Supportive infrastructure and coordination system

• Minimum critical specifications

• Participative, iterative, real-time design, and mutual adaptation

*** Interconnected, Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous

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STS Designing for Non-linear Knowledge Work1. Design By Principles

• With new technologies, design is increasingly becoming the product itself created through a complex network of entities. It is the ideas behind the products (now made more and more by machines) that make the difference between success and failure.

• Ideas can’t be organized the way physical objects can; people must be inspired to create and innovate.

• Competitive advantage is becoming an issue of not just actions, but beliefs. People are most likely to coalesce into groups of avid participants (high-performing employees, buyers, consumers, cause-backers, etc.) if the organization taps their strongest interests, talents and temperament through principles.

2. Design By Context• Contexts are simple maps or frames that help us deal with complexity. They

help to describe and handle certain parts of reality, but are not the reality itself. You can never fully understand complexity, but you can frame it within a certain context to solve a particular problem. The paradox is that by keeping the design frame simple, we can tackle complexity at every level.

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Coordinating System*Coordinating System*

Deliberations*Deliberations*

Pool of Shared KnowledgePool of Shared Knowledge

New InsightsNew Insights

Informed Decisions and ActionInformed Decisions and Action

* Based on STS values and principles.

Critical Design Elements for Designing Non-Routine Knowledge Work By Principles

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Three Contexts For DesignVertically Integrated

Decentralized Organization

Value Realization Network Issue-based Ecosystem

vs. Vertically integrated centralized organization

vs.. Traditional Supply Chains

vs. Large institutional programs

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13

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Key Unit of Analysis -> Deliberations

Pava, 1983

• Deliberations are patterns of exchange and communication in which people engage with themselves or others to reduce the equivocality of a problematic issue.

• The salient elements of a deliberation include the … • Topics or problematic issues facing the social entity about which people

reflect and communicate• Forums in which they occur which may structured, semi-structured, or

unstructured or ad hoc• Participants both those who are currently involved and those who ideally

should be involved in the deliberation.• Coalitions whose purpose is to obtain the best outcomes from the inputs

of multiple perspectives, a novel organizing principle, which pushes the static positions of the organization chart into the background.

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Knowledge Work - the R&D Continuum

Pure Research Work

DON’T KNOW

WHAT

we are looking for

DON’T KNOW

HOW

to carry out the research

Pure Research Work

DON’T KNOW

WHAT

we are looking for

DON’T KNOW

HOW

to carry out the research

Applied Research Work

DON’T KNOW

WHAT

(i.e. end state or objective)

KNOW

HOW

to carry out the research

Applied Research Work

DON’T KNOW

WHAT

(i.e. end state or objective)

KNOW

HOW

to carry out the research

Exploratory Development

Work

KNOW

WHAT

DON’T KNOW

HOW

to achieve it

Exploratory Development

Work

KNOW

WHAT

DON’T KNOW

HOW

to achieve it

Advanced Development

Work

KNOW

WHAT

DON’T KNOW

HOW IN DETAIL

to achieve it

Advanced Development

Work

KNOW

WHAT

DON’T KNOW

HOW IN DETAIL

to achieve it

Start-Up (pilot plants, beta

testing) Development

Work

KNOW

WHAT

KNOW

HOW CONCEPTUALLY

to achieve it

Start-Up (pilot plants, beta

testing) Development

Work

KNOW

WHAT

KNOW

HOW CONCEPTUALLY

to achieve it

Scale-Up (volume & costs)

Development Work

KNOW

WHAT

KNOW

HOW OPERATIONALLY

to achieve it

Scale-Up (volume & costs)

Development Work

KNOW

WHAT

KNOW

HOW OPERATIONALLY

to achieve it

R1

R2

D1

D4

D2

D3

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Deliberations Across the Knowledge Generation Continuum

R1-R2Breakthroughs

R1-R2Breakthroughs

MYSTERIES ALGORITHMS

D3-D4Optimization of

Execution

D3-D4Optimization of

Execution

D1-D2Enhancements and Extensions

D1-D2Enhancements and Extensions

• Sense Making• Solution Generation • High Uncertainty• Exploratory• Focus on effectiveness• Don’t know WHAT, don’t

know HOW• Informal mutual adjustment

• Value Realization• Solution Delivery• Low Uncertainty• Prescriptive• Focus on efficiency• Know WHAT, know HOW• Negotiated plans, SOPs,

results

HEURISTICS

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Coordination Complexity Across the Breakthrough-Optimization Continuum

Mystery Heuristic Algorithm

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