Hierarchical incompetence

A key feature of large hierarchical organizations is the over-simplification of issues and the loss of tacit knowledge about issues as they ascend the hierarchy, and the tendency for lateral communication across the various departments, fiefdoms, etc to be stifled either actively by management, or by self-imposed isolation. This is termed Hierarchical Incompetence by some3.

Conversely the hierarchies only easily deliver simple messages which cascade down to the lower levels. These messages tend to be inappropriate or counter-productive to the goals of the hierarchy and open to inadvertent mis-interpretation as they arrive at the organizational “sharp end,” as reality is inevitably much more complex than envisioned by those at the peak of the hierarchy. Often unofficial actions based on local tacit knowledge and lateral communications compensate for these inevitable communications and conceptual failures no matter how well-intentioned the original policies.

Example

Hitler’s’ Third Reich was famous for bitter inter-departmental rivalries, personal vendettas and lack of co-operation actively fostered by Hitler himself, but these communications failures may have cost him the war. For example German fighters should have been fitted with long range fuel tanks to enable them to protect the Luftwaffe bombers for several hours over England, rather than the 20 or so minutes-worth of fuel they in fact had. Field-marshal (Generalfeldmarschall) and later Air Inspector General Erhard Milch had recommended months before the battle of Britain that cheap drop tanks should be developed in preparation. But hierarchical incompetence meant the long range fuel tank program never went ahead, with consequences for world history that could have been enormous had the Luftwaffe won the Battle of Britain. [http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/ETO/BOB/BoB-German/index.html#cn48 = page 24] Interestingly none of this came out in the "post Match analysis" by the German High Command.

On the other hand, the Leigh Light, a special searchlight which was significant in defeating the World War II U-boat menace came about as the result of a Personnel Officer in the RAF designing and fitting the first light entirely unofficially. [Leigh light]

Conclusion

Lateral communication should therefore be encouraged throughout and across organizations in the interests of efficiency. E-mail and use of the resources of the Internet are one means of doing this. However, in order to prevent information overload Information Routing Groups (systems to automatically encourage, mediate, organize, monitor and control these lateral messages to prevent participants being overloaded, and help and assist them in their prime professional tasks) can assist by guiding important information in particular Tacit knowledge to them. Thus Lateral media and Information Routing Groups (IRGs) are an essential aid to the essential hierarchic function of any large organization and society, defeating the Relevance Paradox and helping to minimize unforeseen and undesirable outcomes.

References:

1a. Many of the references listed below are on: http://lateralaccessnetworks.wikispaces.com/

1. "Beyond Mass Media" Brian Martin.Science, Technology and SocietyUniversity of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia. General discussion of the IRG concept(http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/pubs/95metro.html).

2. The Power Of Open Participatory Media And Why Mass Media Must Be Abandoned. Brian Martin, March 20, 2006. General discussion of the IRG concepthttp://www.masternewmedia.org/news/2006/03/20/the_power_of_open_participatory.htm

3. The IRG Solution - Hierarchical Incompetence and how to overcome it. David Andrews. Souvenir Press, London, 1984. Pages 200 - 220. ISBN 0-285-62662-0. Detailed description of the proposal.

4. The Hidden Manager Communication technology and information networks in business organizations. Taylor Graham Cambridge / Los Angeles,1986. David Andrews and John Kent. Much tighter description of IRG concept and its application to business management. ISBN 0-947568-15-8, 198 6 http://www.taylorgraham.com/books/hidmancon.html

4a. Mogens Niss Professor of Mathematics and Mathematics Education IMFUFA, Roskilde University, Denmark "Om folkeskolelaereruddanelsen i det vigtige fag matematik" in Peter Bollerslev (ed.): "Den ny matematik i Danmark - en essaysamling", Copenhagen, Gyldendal, 1979, pp107-122. The relevance paradox is defined on p. 111.

5. Niss, M. (1994) Mathematics in Society. In Biehler, R., Scholz, R. W., Straesser, R., Winkelmann, B. Eds. (1994) The Didactics of Mathematics as a Scientific Discipline. Dordrecht: Kluwer, 367-378. Relevance paradox

6. Energy Research Group, Open University. Communication Within the Agriculture, Water, Waste and Energy Industries. Discussed examples of how the industries mentioned can be integrated to a greater or lesser degree, leading to lower pollution and energy use. Discussed the need for IRGs and how they might be organized. Emphasizes problem is lack of co-ordination and lateral communication between organisations. Describes interlock research in detail, the relevance paradox and the Bilharzia/schistosomiasis issue, central media, lateral diffusion, tacit knowledge, and Lateral Access Networks, later renamed Information Routing Groups, development of private languages as a barrier to inter communication, also describes how computers can be used to speed up lateral communication, and lateral referral . DC Andrews. ERG 033. Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, England 1980.

6. "The Importance of Knowing the Right People" (Article based on ERG 033 on Lateral Access Networks - the forerunner of Information Routing Groups). Printed in the Guardian Newspaper, London (The National Newspaper) March 20th 1980. Discussed Bilharzia / schistosomiasis relevance paradox.

8. Energy Research Group, Open University . Information Routing Groups. DC Andrews. ERG 037. Generalisation of ERG 033, advocated development of software and automatic phone answering modem to link up private PCs effectively creating an Internet. Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, England 1980. David Andrews

8a Library Association Record to a seminar run jointly by IEE and the LA on 'Biblionic man', held at the IEE on 26 November 1980. Covered same ground as ERG 033 and ERG 037.

8b. Andrews, D. (1986) Information routing groups – Towards the global superbrain: or how to find out what you need to know rather than what you think you need to know, Journal of Information Technology, 1, 1, Feb, 22-35. details of lateral referral, diffusion.

9. Yewlett, J . L . Town Planning, Wales, Institute. of Science & Technology . "Networks : Developments in theory & practice" .The paper reviews developments in the U .S .A. & U .K . in recent years, progressing beyond network analysis to explore the structure & use of networks. The paper seeks to address questions of how to construct multi-actor policy structures, & build networks for particular purposes. Contributory concepts explored included the 'Reticulist', the 'Leader/Co-ordinator', the 'Segmented Polycephalous Network' & the 'Information Routing Group'inCONNECTIONSSunbelt Social Network ConferenceWorld Congress of SociologyAmerican Sociological AssociationVOLUME IXNUMBERS 2-3Winter, 1986http://www.insna.org/Connections-Web/Volume09/connections1986_IX-2-3.pdf

10. ( see Charnock, Anne (1980) Taking Bilharziasis out of the irrigation equation. New Civil Engineer, 7 August) Bilharzia caused by poor civil engineering design.

11. Social Networks Meet News Aggregation And Filtering: Information Routing Groupshttp://www.masternewmedia.org/news/2006/10/02/social_networks_meet_news_aggregation.htm

References