Given my description of organization - and life more generally - as “wiggly”, I was attracted by an article in The Times (15 February, 2023) entitled, “Why ‘rewiggling’ rivers could solve Britain’s water crisis”.
Rather than meandering naturally across the land - in a self-organizing and emergent way, of course (!) - many rivers have been straightened out and deepened over the years, with the aim of releasing the surrounding marshland for grazing. This, though, has adversely affected water quality and wildlife habitats, and reduced the diversity and wellbeing of fish. It has also increased the risk of flooding, and had other detrimental effects on land- and water-management. Action is therefore being taken to “rewiggle” a number of rivers; allowing these to re-establish their natural pathways and flow patterns, and helping to deal with the “water crisis”.
This requires managers, in particular, to change their perspective and practice to reflect this wiggly reality. As I set out in the book, they need to shift their emphasis towards using their practical judgement in relation to the specifics of the situations within which they are involved; coupled with “imaginatively making do” with whatever ‘resources’ might be to hand (in the mode of the bricoleur); and pragmatically applying relevant aspects of their personal “practice theory”, as derived from their own experience and elements of broader theories that resonate and make sense to them.
So, it’s in the sense of taking seriously the real-world dynamics of human interaction that we need to ‘rewiggle’ organization. Going with the flow, so to speak, as we continue to muddle through the complex social process of organizational life - and of life more generally. Striving to do so with purpose, courage and skill, rather than believing that we can ‘catch the wiggliness in an ever-growing net’, of overly formal structures, systems and procedures.
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