On Fri, Feb 15, 2013 at 9:43 AM, Dante-Gabryell Monson <[email protected]> wrote:
In this paper we question the one-sided thesis that contemporary organizations rely on the mobilization of cognitive capacities. We suggest that severe restrictions on these capacities in the form of what we call functional stupidity are an equally important if under-recognized part of organizational life. Functional stupidity refers to an absence of reflexivity, a refusal to use intellectual capacities in other than myopic ways, and avoidance of justifications. We argue that functional stupidity is prevalent in contexts dominated by economy in persuasion which emphasizes image and symbolic manipulation. This gives rise to forms of stupidity management that repress or marginalize doubt and block communicative action. In turn, this structures individuals' internal conversations in ways that emphasize positive and coherent narratives and marginalize more negative or ambiguous ones. This can have productive outcomes such as providing a degree of certainty for individuals and organizations. But it can have corrosive consequences such as creating a sense of dissonance among individuals and the organization as a whole. The positive consequences can give rise to self-reinforcing stupidity. The negative consequences can spark dialogue, which may undermine functional stupidity.
Subject: Fwd: La stupidité fonctionnelle - Finance : "fais d'abord, réfléchis après" ?
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Caroline Stiegler Date: Fri, Feb 15, 2013 at 9:44 AM Subject: La stupidité fonctionnelle To: [email protected]
Chers adhérents et abonnés,
Nous vous recommandons vivement la lecture de
"La « stupidité fonctionnelle » à l’origine de la crise financière"
article accessible à partir du lien suivant :
http://bigbrowser.blog.lemonde.fr/2013/02/14/la-loi-et-lordre-la-stupidite-f...
et qui est introduit ainsi par le quotidien Le Monde : “Selon une étude britannique, le monde de la finance serait dicté par l'attitude "fais d'abord, réfléchis après"”.
Ce qui est ici nommé functionnal stupidity désigne très précisément ce que nous appelons la bêtise systémique (stupidity se traduit très généralement en français par bêtise). Voici le résumé en anglais de l’étude publiée par le Journal of management studies (cf. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2012.01072.x/abstract) :
In this paper we question the one-sided thesis that contemporary organizations rely on the mobilization of cognitive capacities. We suggest that severe restrictions on these capacities in the form of what we call functional stupidity are an equally important if under-recognized part of organizational life.
Wonderful! You might also find these relevant: http://c4ss.org/content/3649 http://c4ss.org/content/10803 http://c4ss.org/content/13841 -- Kevin Carson Karl Hess Chair in Social Theory, Research Associate Center for a Stateless Society http://c4ss.org "You have no authority that we are bound to respect" -- John Perry Barlow "We are legion. We never forgive. We never forget. Expect us" -- Anonymous Homebrew Industrial Revolution: A Low-Overhead Manifesto http://homebrewindustrialrevolution.wordpress.com Desktop Regulatory State http://desktopregulatorystate.wordpress.com