Working in the Cracks; Fragmentation or Creativity?
Organisation consultants, work with the many different structures and internal systems of organisations. There are all designed and built as a framework to help the organisation to run smoothly. Thinking in social-technical theory the processes and systems enable the end 'to- end delivery of products, some define the recruitment and retention of employees and enable them to function efficiently, and some are built to contain the whole enterprise. It is 'as if' the systems become both the inner structures and the external facade to present a smooth exterior to the world. This has many reasons; to influence an impact on the market, to create a successful identity, to contain the energy of the employees, etc However, I am increasingly aware of the disjunction between a desired smoothness of those systems and the small dysfunctions that appear as cracks in the structures and between the systems. This paper addresses the idea of those cracks, and the implications for both organisations and our responsibility as consultants'