Fundamentally, I accept a socio-tech view of work and the workplace. This
has large implications for how, when, and why technology in the shape of
new information systems can or should be introduced. I picked up this
socio-tech view by being fortunate to work with Eric Trist in the late
1970s. Eric and I investigated the degree to which system developers
implicitly built into their creations the view of work they felt applied
to their own working conditions.
This research confirmed our going-in assumptions about the importance of
projected user motivation as a factor in the design of computer systems.
It also led me to a refinement of the socio-tech view, with the
Information Context providing an increasingly important bridge between the
Social Context and the Technical Context of work. These ideas have
informed all my work as a systems and management consultant. And I have
been in consulting for the last fifteen years (coming from an academic
position in Computer Science).
Today my challenge is to facilitate the development of GSA into an
organization that exploits social and technical means to retain
adaptiveness and responsiveness and learning in a world that is
increasingly virtual. Only some of our people are traditional employees -
many "merely" have a close association and regularly work with us on
assignments. Our offices are less and less the primary place where work
gets done. Work is done at the client's location or from an office at home
or from a convenient hotel room.
Simplifying somewhat, my job is: To find a way to preserve the interaction
and interchange that formerly took place at the water cooler, but in a
virtual world.
My interest in this list should be obvious. Many of the topics speak to
central concerns that I must have in my role as leader of Knowledge
Transfer within GSA. They also speak to a concern that is increasingly
important in the design and development of effective information systems,
including those that exploit the power of the Internet.
I would be pleased to interact with interested list subscribers.
Bob Fabian
-- Robert Fabian VP, Knowledge Transfer GSA Consulting Group 366 Adelaide St W, Suite 503, Toronto M5V 1R9 (416) 593-6262"Robert Fabian" <rfabian@interlog.com>