This paper traces the evolution of sociotechnical systems design from its origins in the coal mines of Great Britain to the present day and beyond, into our digital future. Conceived as a means of enhancing productivity while simultaneously providing more meaningful work, sociotechnical thinking gained ground in machine-driven work settings and later took a leap forward to aid the effectiveness of knowledge work. After a period of stagnation as popular fads such as total quality, reengineering and lean six sigma took hold, sociotechnical thinking is poised to reemerge as capabilities associated with new technologies are rapidly outpacing the development of new organizational designs. A recent sociotechnical systems design lab brought together a diverse group of academics, thinkers and practitioners to discuss the future of organization design, producing tantalizing insights into the world that is about to take shape. Finally, implications for change management in sociotechnical transformation are discussed.

Keywords: Sociotechnical systems; design thinking; network ecosystems; organization design; organizational agility; leadership; disruption

Authors: William Pasmore, Stu Winby, Susan Albers Mohrman, and Rick Vanasse

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When you take a hard look at your enterprise, what do you see?

Do you see the top layer?

The shell?

Or do you see it for all its worth, for all its flaws and successes?

For its nuts and bolts. For its departments and people.

Most of us can’t see the entire picture. Especially in management positions. There are just too many puzzle pieces and too little time. And when it’s all operating at the speed of light, it’s hard to make those tough decisions. But tech is the great equaliser. Tech tells us what pieces we’re missing. And CUBE Engineered is the tech that brings it all together.

CUBE Engineered plugs into the heart of your business and opens it up, bit by bit. Finding what’s working, what’s not working. Who’s doing what, when and how. What’s making money, and what’s draining it.

And we stay there at the core of your enterprise, while all the pieces move around us, feeding us info. Learning, optimising and future-proofing.

Because at the end of the day, it’s information that’s key to turning your enterprise into one that can withstand an ever-changing future. 

And, it’s you who has the final say on how it’s achieved.

You are the one who has to make the final move, place the masterpiece and make that final twist of the cube…

So when you do so, make sure you have all the information you need to solve for your enterprise’s success.

CUBE Engineered for the Future

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