Flow as a System - Science of making work flow in an organization

Course Overview

In today's world, where knowledge is power and bio-mechanical factory workers have transformed into knowledge workers, knowledge reigns supreme. But knowledge is not limited to hard skills or soft skills—it also includes the ability to design effective techno-social systems in which we operate. When the systems created by employees fail to help employees to perform at their true potential and fails company reach its true potential, there is often only one explanation: what we the employees think as knowledge may not actually be knowledge at all. It may be pseudo-knowledge or even nonsense. This leads us to the idea of systems of knowledge. The creative human mind can't help but generate knowledge, pseudo-knowledge, and nonsense—and it also has a system that attempt to sort among the three. Philosophers refer to these sorting systems as epistemological systems. The challenge is that most people are not aware of the epistemological framework they use to decide what counts as knowledge versus pseudo-knowledge or nonsense. Therefore when asked, "How do you know that what you know is truly knowledge?" many people respond, "Because it makes sense to me." But here lies the problem: what makes sense to you is "knowledge" for you, while what makes sense to another person is "knowledge" for them. When the two conflict, there is no reliable way to adjudicate who is right. The default fallback becomes power, authority, command-and-control or my way or highway, all of which does not lead towards positive outcome for organization in long term. The solution to organizational disagreements and conflicts therefore is not simply to talk more, schedule more meetings, or exchange more opinions. The real solution lies in each participant moving away from the stance that "what makes sense to me is knowledge." and have a shared epistemological system. But new epistemological system can't be learnt on top of your current one. One needs to become aware of their current epistemological system - it's power and it's limitation in separating knowledge from pseudo-knowledge and non-sense. Once you recognize limitation of your current epistemological system, you will open yourself to the SystemsWay epistemological systems—a far more effective way of distinguishing knowledge from pseudo-knowledge and nonsense. Having a shared epistemological system is the foundation for effective dialogue, genuine consensus, and lasting agreement. This course is the beginning of that journey. You will learn what it means to be epistemically humble, how to overcome confirmation bias (especially the kind you don't even realize you carry), and how to shed pseudo-knowledge and nonsense in order to acquire true knowledge. At times, unlearning is the necessary first step before real learning can begin. This course will have everlasting impact on you personally and impact you make at your organization.