This whole discussion reminds me of an idea I had many years ago about
pulling together a team of people that would have software wizards in it
combined with organizational desgin gurus and come up with an iterative
process for developing the communication processes for an organization.
Assumptions:
All organizational cultures manage the flow of information -- sometimes to
increase power, look good, control, focus the business to my advantage,
etc.
Information makes the world go round.
Many do not consciously design the organizational culture and their
software systems together.
We have more info than we know what to do with.
We are crummy at managing information.
End of assumptions. Well -- explicit ones anyway (-:
So with these in mind I saw both sides evolving together -- hence the
iterative co-development of both the culture and the software. For
example, at the time I worked with a client who was in manufacturing
retail products. They needed a way of tracking sales (from Mom and Pops
to national chains). They had a LOT of info. It took one sales guy 6
months to track down where product was being moved and how (which was
hurting the company) by distributors. SIX MONTHS of a number trail. So I
thought -- wouldn't it be great to be able to have the software recognize
when glitches were occurring -- raise the flag at out of the ordinary
occurrances.
But then I thought -- how would the information get put in? People do
hoard information. Hence the work on the culture... It would have to be
an iterative and evolving process. I almost had it set up to happen...
Now that would have been a lot of fun to do. Can you imagine software
engineers and od gurus together on the same team -- what a blast?!?
With great caring,
Sherri
sherri@maloufinc.com Tel:603-672-0355
LMA, Inc Fax:603-673-7120
"I close my eyes only for a moment and the moment is gone." -Kansas
"Let's do something beautiful for God." -Mother Theresa
--sherri@maloufinc.com (Sherri Malouf)
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>