This document discusses sociotechnical systems theory and design. It provides quotes from thinkers like Russell Ackoff about how systems are more than the sum of their parts. It also discusses the work of theorists like Emery and Trist, who identified different types of organizational environments (placid clustered, disturbed reactive, turbulent). Sociotechnical systems design aims to create win-win outcomes for technology, people, and organizational performance through principles like semi-autonomous work teams. The document advocates giving people control over their own work designs to motivate commitment and adaptation to change.
7. @trondhjort
“A system is never the sum of its
parts; its the product of their
interaction.”
—Russell L. Ackoff
8. @trondhjort
“A system is more than the sum of
its parts; it is an indivisible whole.
It loses its essential properties
when it is taken apart.”
—Russell L. Ackoff
9. @trondhjort
“An organization is a system and
the performance of a system
depends more on how its parts
interact than on how they act when
taken separately.”
-Russell L. Ackoff
17. @trondhjort
“The biosphere includes both
the individual and the
environment, not as interacting
parts, not as constituents which
have independent existence, but
as aspects of a single reality
which can be separated only by
abstraction.“
-Andras Angyal, 1941
21. @trondhjort Inspirational source: Emery & Trist, The Causal Texture of Organisational Environments
<1790 1790-1950 1950>
Type II
Placid clustered
Enough for all
Neutral
Static
Tactics only
Type III
Disturbed reactive
Scarcity
Competition
Dynamic
Strategy needed
Type IV
Turbulent
Scarcity
Competition
Dynamic
Unpredictable
26. @trondhjort Inspirational source: Emery & Trist, The Causal Texture of Organisational Environments
Type II
Placid clustered
Type III
Disturbed reactive
Type IV
Turbulent
<1790 1790-1950 1950>
DP2 DP1 DP1 ➝ DP2
Enough for all
Neutral
Static
Tactics only
Scarcity
Competition
Dynamic
Strategy needed
Scarcity
Competition
Dynamic
Unpredictable
43. @trondhjort
“STS design was intended to produce a
‘win-win-win-win’: human beings were
more committed, technology operated
closer to its potential and the organization
performed better overall while adapting
more readily to change in its environment.”
Source: Pasmore et al, Reflections: Sociotechnical Systems Design and Organization Change
45. @trondhjort
“As soon as people are forced
to compete, they have to look
after their own interests and so
self interest comes to dominate
life in a DP1 [autocratic/
bureaucratic] structure. All the
team building in the world
cannot change this dynamic.”
-Merrelyn Emery
46. @trondhjort
“It is only when the people
involved work out their own
designs that the necessary
motivation, responsibility and
commitment to effective
implementation is present.”
-Merrelyn Emery