Managing the Unexpected

Weick, K. E., & Sutcliffe, K. M. (2001). Managing the Unexpected: Assuring High Performance in an Age of Complexity.

Type

Book

Intellectual base

Review or monograph

Year

2001

Link

https://archive.org/details/managingunexpect0000weic

Cited from

cognitive_science, economics_finance, engineering_design, literature_literary_theory, organizational_management, systems_cybernetics

Cited by

14 citations across 14 artifacts.

Each citation links to the sentence it supports in the citing article.

Primes

• Collective Systemic Learning

  • This sourceJossey-Bass. Develops high-reliability-organization principles (preoccupation with failure, reluctance to simplify, sensitivity to operations) for collective learning under complexity.

• Coordination

  • This sourceJossey-Bass. Articulates the five principles of high-reliability organizing (preoccupation with failure, reluctance to simplify, sensitivity to operations, commitment to resilience, deference to expertise); relevant to robust coordination under uncertainty.

• Decision
  • Listed in the references but not attached to a specific claim.
• Division of Labor
  • Listed in the references but not attached to a specific claim.
• Environmental Coupling Strength
  • Listed in the references but not attached to a specific claim.
• Formal vs. Informal Structures

  • This sourceExamines high-reliability organizations and the 'mindfulness' practices through which they detect and contain the unexpected.

• Layered Coordination & Oversight
  • Listed in the references but not attached to a specific claim.
• Narrative
  • Listed in the references but not attached to a specific claim.
• Oversight Capacity
  • Listed in the references but not attached to a specific claim.
• Reserve
  • Listed in the references but not attached to a specific claim.
• Sensemaking
  • Mature practice uses tentative commitment ("we'll act on this frame while actively monitoring for revision triggers") rather than permanent closure or endless deliberation; HRO's "reluctance to simplify" is this discipline
• System Slack
  • The absorption function enabling systems to absorb shocks, unexpected demand, or crises without failure or cascade effects
• Systemic Fragmentation
  • The resource-hoarding behavior where units retain control of resources, expertise, or capabilities rather than making them available for cross-boundary deployment

Mechanisms

• Humility Norm Onboarding Module
  • It is the deliberate version of what High Reliability Organizations do when they socialize new members to report small errors and defer to expertise from day one.

Verification

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Links previously used in the corpus

Before the registry existed this work was also linked 2 other ways.

• https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3917389W/Managing_the_unexpected ×1
• https://www.google.com/books/edition/Managing_the_Unexpected/lc1HAAAAMAAJ ×1

Registry ID ref:254b11a69552 · see in the full table