Applying the Social Theory to Organizations
As already mentioned previously ST is not only developed with government institutions in mind. ST was developed with wicked problems in mind affecting all members of society. This does not mean that society as a whole is ST’s only application area. It can also be applied in NGOs and businesses, although the terminology has to be adapted to suit this purpose. In this chapter we will discuss applying ST in organizations in more detail.
Organizations, including NGOs and businesses, are not always operating from democratic principles. Yet they do have one essential property in common with a democratic society. In order to sustain, they all have to adapt to changing circumstances. An organization has to be well aware of what is going on in the outside world in order to remain viable. And this is precisely what ST can offer. The reflection process can be put to good use to stay relevant by getting a critical, outsider’s view on the organization. The organization itself can organize the reflection process, but it must guarantee and value its independent role. In short, the organization empowers its hardest critics and it appreciates the naked truth they bring to the table. This borders on self-chastisement.
Organizations are typically organized in a top-down fashion steered by a board of directors and controlled by a supervisory board. Most organizations do value the opinions of employees, but a systematic approach to learning and improvement is the exception rather than the norm. Notable exceptions are organizations that implement trajectories centered around continuous improvement (PDCA, Lean, Six-Sigma, etc.). However, the focus is typically more on verification (doing things right) than on validation (doing the right things). The ST process focuses on validation to make an organization agile, but validation cannot be seen independently from verification.
Perhaps the most valuable asset of ST is the development of facilitator of change skills by employers and employees. ST provides the process to acquire the skills in practice. Moreover, the skills can be seen as a way of being, which in the context of ST is continuously adapting to changes in the outside world by means of mutual understanding and shared meaning. An organization having such a mindset is an organization that puts individual and group learning center stage, which amounts to a lifelong learning organization.
In conclusion, the ST process has much to offer to organizations, but as remarked before, the terminology has to be adapted. This could for example be done as follows:
- Implementation process → on-going daily process (performed by employees);
- Reflection process → advisory process (performed by independent experts);
- Democratic process → supervisory process (performed by supervisory board);
- Strategic process → steering process (performed by board of directors).