Critical Systems Thinking and the Management of Complexity

12 Socio‐Technical Systems Thinking

From the beginning the sociotechnical concept has developed in terms of systems, since it is concerned with interdependencies. It has also developed in terms of open system theory, since it is concerned with the environment in which an organization must actively maintain a steady state

(Trist 1981, p. 12)

12.1 Prologue

In Norway, in the early 1960s, the state of the economy was of growing concern to both employers and trade unions. Industry had failed to modernize, growth had declined, multinationals were taking over Norwegian companies, and the largest paper and pulp firm went bankrupt. There were increasing calls for workers' control. The Confederation of Employers and the Confederation of Trade Unions asked Einar Thorsrud, director of the Institute for Social Research at the Technical University of Norway, to carry out an investigation. Thorsrud invited Emery and Trist from the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations, in London, to become involved and, together with representatives from the two Confederations, they became part of the planning committee tasked to develop the research design. In 1962, the committee initiated “The Norwegian Industrial Democracy Project,” the most ambitious attempt to humanize work and democratize industry ever proposed in the West.

The first stage of the work consisted of an inquiry into the role of workers' directors. It was found that, however well they performed, allowing workers' representatives ...