Dr Nick Waggett

In the age of the smart machine  How can we benefit from the opportunities of digitization and AI in ways that improve both the provision of services and the experience of those working in them? As a way of reflecting on the current imperative to benefit from the role-out of AI across business and public services, I have been re-reading Shoshana Zuboff’s seminal study ‘In the age of the smart machine’ . This book, published in 1988, traced the implementation of an earlier generation of computer technologies. Whilst AI has many different characteristics, opportunities and potential risks, I think Zuboff’s analysis continues to have relevance and can provide insight into what is happening today.  Automate or informate A key distinction Zuboff makes is between technology used to automate work processes or to informate them.   If technology is used only to automate work:  it can reduce skill levels, and dampen the urge towards more participatory and decentralized...

Why are individuals or teams sometimes unable to communicate effectively with each other and often seem to be pulling in opposite directions? It might be that they have a different organisation-in-the-mind . The use of drawings to elicit the organisation-in-the-mind (OIM) of individuals and teams is one of my favourite consultancy techniques. I recommend it as an approach to manifesting what people think and feel about the institution they are part of. As with other visual methods , drawing is a way in which the hidden and ‘beneath the surface’ can be made visible and thought about. This is helpful in organisations that are struggling, but also in successful teams who need to innovate and adapt. By making the OIM visible, it is possible to gain an understanding of the dilemmas, challenges and conflicts that can arise due to differences in the internal working model each person has of their organisation, team, service or company.     What each person experiences as b...

A factor in current organizational and social turbulence is rapid technological change   I am sharing the text of an article I wrote for publication in 2018 but then withdrew (long story). I am working on a new (different, better) article so sharing this version in case anyone is interested in the findings of my doctoral thesis - but doesn't want to read the whole thing! I think the paper has continued relevance today and adds to discussions about our 'entanglement' with new technologies including AI. The focus is on human services (health, social care, education etc.) but my view is that similar processes operate in all kinds of organizations and in wider society.  The paper aims to develop theory and practice in systems-psychodynamics in relation to the role of technology within the organization of work. It argues for the importance of technology as a significant actor within, and mediator of, human processes in the 21st Century.   It is proposed that leaders ...

  Like, what colour is a conversation with a colleague? All those bits that might not be reflected in the calendar. The research I undertook for my Professional Doctorate (completed in 2017) explored how technology alters organizational processes and structures. The above quote relates to the use of the Outlook calendar to manage workload in a health clinic. Some of the findings anticipated the transformation of work that was accelerated by the pandemic and enabled by technology.  For example, I showed how technology transports work across an organization’s usual boundaries of time (9-5) and place (the office). The affordances of technology (i.e. what it enables) have many positive aspects, such as maintaining delivery of critical services during a global pandemic. Society’s capacity to deliver its core functions was many times greater in 2020 that it was 10 or 50 years earlier. Some impacts were unexpected – such as accelerating the decline in physical newspaper sales beca...

Creativity is central to organizational success Creativity is crucial in responding to change, innovation, growth, re-structuring and challenges in the market or operating environment. Creativity in these situations is needed to enable new thoughts, connections and ideas to arise, and to avoid getting stuck in old and unhelpful patterns of working.  Think of the sports team that has a set way of playing that has worked for them but who can’t adapt to other teams improving or using new techniques. A once successful team will steadily, or even rapidly, become second best. Doing the same thing over and over - when it has been shown to be ineffective or even damaging - is a sign of something unhealthy going on in the team, organization or business. To unstick  and move to a new, healthy and productive position requires curiosity, creativity and the generation of new ways of working and connecting with the client, customer or audience.  The problem is that these processes – ch...