A stupidity-based theory of organizations

tags

Bureaucracy Cognition vs Closure

Notes

Functional stupidity refers to an absence of reflexivity, a refusal to use intellectual capacities in other than myopic ways and avoidance of justifications.

NOTER_PAGE: (3 . 0.3428107229894395)

contexts dominated by economy in persuasion which emphasizes image and symbolic manipulation.

NOTER_PAGE: (3 . 0.4167343623070674)

underlying premise that a vital issue for contemporary organizations is their ability intelligently to mobilize cognitive capacities

NOTER_PAGE: (4 . 0.3021933387489846)

question the assumption in this field that sophisticated thinking and use of advanced knowledge, is a core characteristic of many contemporary organizations

NOTER_PAGE: (5 . 0.7709179528838342)

Functional stupidity is organizationally-supported lack of reflexivity, substantive reasoning and justification

NOTER_PAGE: (6 . 0.5922014622258326)

frictions provoked by doubt and reflection

NOTER_PAGE: (6 . 0.6929325751421608)

‘bounded rationality’ captures actors’ inability to make completely rational decisions

NOTER_PAGE: (8 . 0.5507717303005686)

prevalence of ‘skilled incompetence’ in large organizations

NOTER_PAGE: (9 . 0.20471161657189277)

‘pseudo-knowledge’ allows people to confuse superficial familiarity with a deeper understanding of the subject matter

NOTER_PAGE: (10 . 0.6929325751421608)

each of these concepts tends to have a cognitive bias towards ‘embrained’ processing of knowledge. This focus tends to obfuscate affective or motivational issues

NOTER_PAGE: (11 . 0.661251015434606)

most managerial practices are adopted on the basis of faulty reasoning, accepted wisdom and complete lack of evidence

NOTER_PAGE: (12 . 0.8716490658001624)

we would argue that stupidity needs to be taken seriously, as a part of organizational life. Furthermore, we would claim that stupidity should not just be equated with pathology, irrationality or dysfunctional thinking which disrupt the smooth functioning of organization life. Rather, stupidity may be actively supported by organizations

NOTER_PAGE: (13 . 0.34524776604386676)

functional stupidity as being characterized by an unwillingness or inability to mobilize three aspects of cognitive capacity: reflexivity, justification and substantive reasoning

NOTER_PAGE: (14 . 0.30869212022745735)

Mobilizing information is thus more a matter of legitimation than functionality

NOTER_PAGE: (18 . 0.6238830219333875)

functional stupidity is prompted by the contemporary economy of persuasion which emphasizes symbolic rather than substantive aspects of organizational life

NOTER_PAGE: (19 . 0.5905767668562144)

the manufacture of seductive images has become increasingly central to work and to organizations

NOTER_PAGE: (20 . 0.8318440292445166)

economy of (post-) affluence where much of what organizations produce does not find spontaneous demand

NOTER_PAGE: (21 . 0.10073111291632818)

symbolic manipulation can also be directed at employees. Employee-focused campaigns indicate appropriate feelings, convictions and identities

NOTER_PAGE: (21 . 0.8326563769293257)

efforts to persuade and seduce employees into believing in something that improves the image of their organizations, their work and, ultimately, themselves

NOTER_PAGE: (22 . 0.380178716490658)

a significant proportion of employees will ‘buy in’ to this symbolic manipulation, and become extremely devoted to the firm

NOTER_PAGE: (22 . 0.6246953696181966)

stupidity management, which occurs when a range of actors seeks to limit the fully shared exercise of employees’ cognitive capacities

NOTER_PAGE: (23 . 0.6937449228269699)

Stupidity management is typically underpinned by blocking communicative action

NOTER_PAGE: (24 . 0.1348497156783103)

Independent thinking is discouraged by an emphasis on the rationality of formal structures and procedures and the imitation of others in order to make things look good and legitimate

NOTER_PAGE: (24 . 0.5848903330625508)

stupidity managers seek to steer employees away from issues that go outside proscribed cognitive or ideological boundaries

NOTER_PAGE: (25 . 0.7952883834281071)

positive evocations frequently clash with the realities of work. Sometimes employees see work as boring, harsh, unethical or simply wrong in terms of productive arrangements and practices (Costas and Fleming, 2009). This clash between positive evocations encouraged by stupidity managers, and more negative experiences of everyday life, creates a significant sense of dissonance

NOTER_PAGE: (32 . 0.5889520714865962)

employees in a large professional services firm tended frequently to celebrate the meritocratic nature of the career paths and the managerial hierarchy in their organization. At the same time, they ignored many of the arbitrary ways the career system actually worked

NOTER_PAGE: (33 . 0.48253452477660436)

Considering formal structures and procedures rather than their own experiences and observations allowed consultants to focus on a narrow range of positive and confirmatory experiences

NOTER_PAGE: (33 . 0.8659626320064987)

An important positive outcome of functional stupidity is that it provides a sense of certainty

NOTER_PAGE: (34 . 0.6555645816409423)

diversion of intellectual resources into ‘non-productive’ critical thinking, existential anxiety and other miseries

NOTER_PAGE: (34 . 0.7611697806661251)

Questioning can be costly because it requires significant time and resources to engage in critical thinking

NOTER_PAGE: (35 . 0.554021121039805)

one of the most palpable drivers of accidents is an organizational or occupational culture that encourages people to avoid asking difficult questions and critiquing established frameworks of knowledge

NOTER_PAGE: (37 . 0.10641754670999187)

Reflexivity in individuals occurs when their experiences clash with their own self- and/or organizational identity narratives

NOTER_PAGE: (39 . 0.09666937449228269)

perhaps key developments and contemporary conditions also mean that modern economies and organizations become more ‘stupidity- intensive’?

NOTER_PAGE: (41 . 0.5889520714865962)

Contemporary academia could be seen as a hothouse for functional stupidity

NOTER_PAGE: (44 . 0.2372055239642567)