There are several communities in the field of Organisation Design. I have participated in several during my short time in the field. This month I was able to attend the Sociotechnical Systems Roundtable (STS because Sociotechnical Systems is far too long of a name) in San Francisco. While many of the other communities in the Org Design field are fairly young, this community has been around since 1986. It is a community that has a history of academia and prestige. You hear big names being thrown around such as Erich Trist, Ed Schien and Fred Emery, all fathers of Sociotechnical system theory. So while I was familiar with the community I had previously little interest in participating. I believe that ON THE MARK approaches Org Design from a very practical angle so a community that prides itself on lots of theory and academia hadn’t really interested me. In fact my friend and colleague Peter Turgoose had attended two years previously and had been very disappointed at the ‘talking heads’ aspect of it all. Irregardless, I was in the US and had the week free of client work so with encouragement from Mark LaScola I decided to check it out. It helps that it was being held in San Francisco, one of my favourite cities in the US.
The theme of the conference was not a new topic in our field but a popular and important one nonetheless. It was how digital technology integrates with Org Design and Sociotechncal Systems.
There were only 3 people I knew prior to attending the conference and I was also the youngest person there (despite Sam Pless trying to claim that title which I felt compelled to correct) but as soon as I walked in I was warmly welcomed by many new people. They asked how I knew about the community and I essentially told people what I have written above but my skepticism was combated with reassurance that this year was going to be very different and I am pleased to say I think they were right.
I joined the first day where the first workshop I attended was an appreciative inquiry into STS. This was a nice intro for me. The session comprised of three presentations discussing STS methods from North America, the Lowlands and Australia. We were then asked to choose one of the groups and join them in discussion about what were the methods, similarities and differences between the three. I joined the Australia group as I was very engaged by the practical and anecdotal way that Peter Aughton presented his views. After a discussion all groups converged and presented back their thoughts. That evening the conference formally opened allowing me to get to know some more people over drinks.
The following day continued in a similar format. By that I mean there was very limited presentations from ‘talking heads’ and much more group based discussion. What made this more effective was that the design team made a very conscious effort to keep the groups diverse for age and background. This is a much more familiar way of working for me in previous conferences I had joined. It also meant that we were able to make more headway on the issues of digital technology in STS.
By the end of the second day I was pretty mentally exhausted but very much excited for the third day as in the morning we went on a bus tour of Silicone Valley and a walk around Google’s campus which Peter Sorenson did a fantastic job of being our guide. I think if he is ever short of work he could defiantly start his own tour company!
In the afternoon we were taken to the Quadrus Conference Center which is a beautiful facility blending with the countryside with a great view of the valley. It was here that Stu Winby along with several other prolific people (including Dean Hovey who developed the Levi’s compatible mouse for Steve Jobs) delivered an as ever though provoking session on how digital technology is changing the healthcare STS. This was followed by presentations from Beulah Trist, and Ed Schien themselves. This was a facilitated panel about the history and culture of silicone valley. The panel was made up of a few people who had history in valley. This session with all of this very smart and prolific people was what I described to Stu as frustratingly inspiring. I was filled with all of this ambition to go out and change the world but at the same time I know it’s not that easy! This evening was concluded perfectly with wine, cheese, more great conversations with people and a great view of the valley.
The final day followed the same format. Diverse groups deliberating about the topics posed and we debriefed each team. By this point I felt quite close to many of the participants. There was a strong sense of community in the group throughout and there were continuos appreciations for many people which showed me how much of an impact each of them had made on each other. I am looking forward to reading through their work.
I think it is going to take quite a few months of reflection to process the information I gathered throughout the week. Overall the conference was an incredibly enjoyable experience filled with friendly and very knowledgable people. I hope that the STS keeps going down the same route it seems to have adopted because I would very much like to remain present in the community and continue having stimulating discussions with them. The only thing that remains is to thank the organisers for hosting me.