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unintoxication are associated with health risks (e.g., pulmo- mindful organizing of previous research. The existing litera-
nary aspiration). In case of legal procedures, the OTAP ture on mindful organizing focuses on people, (respectful)
would provide evidence for which user had been logged in communication, and (safety) culture (Pronovost et al., 2006;
and made changes. Sutcliffe, 2011; Vogus et al., 2010; Weick & Sutcliffe, 2007).
This is hardly surprising because the literature on HROs is
Inscribing accountability and mindful organizing. Our findings informed by accounts of sensemaking that focus on human
show instances of practicing micropolitics and defensive cognition and communication, and tends to neglect artifacts
behavior that can be associated with the danger of “crowding such as tools and their materiality. While we emphasize the
out” mindful organizing, if simply by taking up valuable role of the OTAP, we do not claim that the tool alone deter-
time and attention. The routine of making screenshots may mines the five Weickian processes of mindful organizing in
be interpreted as being conducive to mindful organizing our case. Rather, nonhuman and human actors form the socio-
because it enables the operation theater manager to bounce material practices of managing the unexpected. Especially
back and cope with unexpected events such as a power or IT during surgeries, social interaction is crucial—but often
system blackout (he would have the latest schedule). How- involves medical instruments and artifacts, of which the OTAP
ever, this was not the purpose. Rather, the fact that the tool is only one. Thus, our study is only a first step toward picking
materializes who did what and when directs attention away up tools and integrating them into a sociomaterial model of
from the operations in the here and now toward a distant and mindful organizing. We now discuss the implications of this
potential future which is decoupled from localized organiz- model for researchers and practitioners.
ing in the operation theater. The detrimental effect of
“inscribing accountability” on mindful organizing is that Picking Up Visual-Material Design
attention is drawn away from sweeping in interconnected
details to interpreting ongoing events in the light of possible Our analysis shows that visual and material aspects of a tool
risks. As a consequence, sensitivity to operations may be are crucial because material and digital instantiations are
replaced by merely thinking about the risk of a possible law- involved in inscribing the big picture, make expectations
suit. Moreover, people may overstretch the adherence to for- about temporal relations between past, ongoing and planned
malized procedures to avoid blame, legal consequences, and surgeries visible, and produce traces that inscribe account-
public scrutiny. Such an overly strong focus on outside per- ability. In addition, codified rules and standards that inscribe
ception, reputation, risk, and aversion of legal responsibility temporality can be understood as artifacts and are thus part
is antithetical to mindful organizing, which is focused on the of the materiality of tools. The boxes, bars, lines, and tem-
moment and ongoing operations. Here, we see an interesting plates as well as the mouse-over feature affect the relation
tension with respect to the sociomateriality of the OTAP. between details and the big picture because they afford actors
While its visual-material and rule-based inscriptions give to pay attention to some details that appear as information;
form to details, time and space amenable to mindful organiz- that is, some cues become literally manifested while other
ing, they also bear the risk of misdirecting attention by dis- details are faded out or unavailable. This suggests that the
tancing actors from the actual events in the operation digital and material instantiations are not neutral but play an
theater. active role in shaping organizational interaction because they
afford and authorize as well as block or forbid information,
Discussion sensemaking and eventually, courses of action. Such a per-
spective is in line with other accounts that attribute a more
In our study, we set out to examine how a computer-based tool active to nonhuman objects (see Nicolini, Mengis, & Swan,
shapes mindful organizing. We believe that a closer look at the 2012). Our theorizing and empirical focus help explicate
nature of tools helps explicate their role and sheds light on how the visual-material dimension of a tool’s inscriptions
mechanisms that facilitate or inhibit mindful organizing but leads to ambiguous effects on mindful organizing. This
have not been explored so far. Our theorizing is rooted in the extends accounts that depict mindful organizing in purely
concepts of inscriptions and sociomateriality, which are used cognitive or symbolic terms, which only sheds light on one
to analyze the nature and role of the OTAP. Our findings indi- dimension of managing the unexpected.
cate that while some inscriptions had a direct positive influ- From a Weickian perspective on mindfulness, our study
ence on processes of mindful organizing, others had a negative suggests rehabilitating the role of tools. Ever since Weick’s
effect. Interestingly, some of the tool’s shortcomings also fos- famous call to “drop your tools,” research has been somewhat
tered processes of mindful organizing. Figure 4 shows these dismissive of the potential of tools to foster mindful organiz-
effects and presents our contribution toward integrating tools ing. Our study points toward such a potential and outlines
into a sociomaterial model of mindful organizing. By focusing some facets which deserve further consideration, for exam-
on the role of tools in the network of human and nonhuman ple, tools and their relations to routines or “acting on auto-
actors, our study extends the human-centered approach to matic pilot.” From a Weickian perspective on mindfulness,