Related: Knowledge workers cannot be supervised.
- postcapitalist society p.138
In previous organizations, supervisors knew what their subordinates did. The supervisor himself did the same work as his subordinates years ago. In a knowledge organization, however, the supervisor must assume that the subordinate does not know the subordinate’s work. Usually, the supervisor has not experienced the same job as the subordinate.
- When subordinates start dealing with expertise, supervisors assume they don’t know their subordinates’ work.
- Fast rate of change in knowledge The same thing happens in the case of
Orchestra conductors are not allowed to play the oboe.
- A supervisor cannot do a subordinate’s job for him.
- Not having the knowledge to do it.
But the conductor knows what contribution the oboe must make.
- In other words, we cannot get into the details of how the work itself is done, but rather deal with it at one level of abstraction: what kind of contribution is needed by the work?
In a knowledge-based organization, everyone is responsible for his or her own goals, contributions, and actions. This means that everyone working in the organization must thoroughly think about and take responsibility for their target and contribution.
This story leads to MBO(Management By Objective) and then to OKR(Objective and Key Result).
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People in the organization have a responsibility to inform their colleagues above, below, and beside them about their goals, their priorities, and the contributions they intend to make. They are, of course, responsible for ensuring that their goals are aligned with the goals of the organization as a whole.
- This is a very OKR way of thinking now that I read it.
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