3 ms·

The Ambiguity of Real Work

103 points by azhenley 5y ago

pjc50 5y ago
I do like a bit of systems thinking, and this is a great little blog post for that. Ambiguity makes us as systems designers uncomfortable, for good reasons. But dispelling it requires a lot of work on legibility, often transforming the subjects of the system in order to make them more legible.
onos 5y ago
I found the discussion around ambiguity and required group consolidation around a shared understanding pretty interesting. One could imagine that the amount of ambiguity present in a problem could then set the scale of how many people should be working on something: with large ambiguity it becomes hard for a big group to consolidate on a shared understanding, and they might never then align their efforts. Presumably a leader of a large group should set very few and clear goals to align the group around. The tension then I would guess is that this might not best make use of the specific skills of the individuals present.
beckingz 5y ago
The note about using diagrams as boundary objects is astute: systems are too complex to actually understand the whole thing.
thadk 5y ago
I was also struck by a similar section of Reflective Practitioner and wrote this thread some years ago about how professional ambiguity is furthered as computers advance: https://twitter.com/thadk/status/1211175280498356226?s=21 https://twitter.com/thadk/status/1211175280498356226?s=21
pontifier 5y ago
This matches perfectly with my current best theory of intelligence. When an idea or situation arises, communication between different ?stakeholders? allows a more complete understanding of the situation to form. This is the pattern I see everywhere, from organizations and teams, Generational/Adversarial networks, and even my own internal thought processes. Effective communication by entities with different perspectives amplify reality, and dampen unfounded speculation, while exploring a broad solution space.
splittingTimes 5y ago
In Germany you have basically two education/preparation for work life tracks after secondary school ends. One is the very intellectual heavy university education. The other is a dual education system of apprenticeship for Craftsman/manual work. For three years You go to school two to three days a week and work at a real craft business. That way you get the theory and it's practical application. After your exam you are a certified handy man in your profession with the relevant skills to work professionally. This solves the mentioned ambiguity of real work. University education was associated with staying in higher education or R&D. But the creation of vast PhD programs had created a wave of PhD that cannot be absorbed by the University and research institutions. So it bleeds into "normal" work life. The software profession would benefit from a dual apprenticeship system. But company's are not willing to take on the responsibility and train their talent that way. At least not in Germany.
- sdoering 5y ago
  Additionally the apprenticeship way was open to 'lower' educational tiers. Nowadays you often need a good high school education for jobs that some years back were clearly open to pupils with a so called 'Realschulabschluss'. I would also add that we have the highly theoretical universities and the Universities of Applied Sciences. Later ones are more practically oriented. Having studied at a "regular" university and watched people study at an Applied Sciences University, I believe that the later is better grounded in reality.
- 3pt14159 5y ago
  This is what we have at the University of Waterloo, my alma mater, in Canada. Two semesters of study, then alternating study-work-study-work etc until you graduate. It takes five years instead of four and you graduate with industry contacts, virtually no debt, and a couple years of experience. Plus the time you did spend in class or at the lab was coloured in from your work experience and your teammates could be leagues ahead of you at one specific speciality that they focussed on during their last semester. The program is so successful that some departments like Engineering mandate it. There is no non-coop engineering degree from Waterloo.
- lumost 5y ago

103 points by azhenley 5y ago

I do like a bit of systems thinking, and this is a great little blog post for that. Ambiguity makes us as systems designers uncomfortable, for good reasons. But dispelling it requires a lot of work on legibility, often transforming the subjects of the system in order to make them more legible.

onos 5y ago

I found the discussion around ambiguity and required group consolidation around a shared understanding pretty interesting. One could imagine that the amount of ambiguity present in a problem could then set the scale of how many people should be working on something: with large ambiguity it becomes hard for a big group to consolidate on a shared understanding, and they might never then align their efforts. Presumably a leader of a large group should set very few and clear goals to align the group around. The tension then I would guess is that this might not best make use of the specific skills of the individuals present.

beckingz 5y ago

The note about using diagrams as boundary objects is astute: systems are too complex to actually understand the whole thing.

thadk 5y ago

I was also struck by a similar section of Reflective Practitioner and wrote this thread some years ago about how professional ambiguity is furthered as computers advance: https://twitter.com/thadk/status/1211175280498356226?s=21 https://twitter.com/thadk/status/1211175280498356226?s=21

pontifier 5y ago

This matches perfectly with my current best theory of intelligence. When an idea or situation arises, communication between different ?stakeholders? allows a more complete understanding of the situation to form. This is the pattern I see everywhere, from organizations and teams, Generational/Adversarial networks, and even my own internal thought processes. Effective communication by entities with different perspectives amplify reality, and dampen unfounded speculation, while exploring a broad solution space.

splittingTimes 5y ago

In Germany you have basically two education/preparation for work life tracks after secondary school ends. One is the very intellectual heavy university education. The other is a dual education system of apprenticeship for Craftsman/manual work. For three years You go to school two to three days a week and work at a real craft business. That way you get the theory and it's practical application. After your exam you are a certified handy man in your profession with the relevant skills to work professionally. This solves the mentioned ambiguity of real work. University education was associated with staying in higher education or R&D. But the creation of vast PhD programs had created a wave of PhD that cannot be absorbed by the University and research institutions. So it bleeds into "normal" work life. The software profession would benefit from a dual apprenticeship system. But company's are not willing to take on the responsibility and train their talent that way. At least not in Germany.

sdoering 5y ago
Additionally the apprenticeship way was open to 'lower' educational tiers. Nowadays you often need a good high school education for jobs that some years back were clearly open to pupils with a so called 'Realschulabschluss'. I would also add that we have the highly theoretical universities and the Universities of Applied Sciences. Later ones are more practically oriented. Having studied at a "regular" university and watched people study at an Applied Sciences University, I believe that the later is better grounded in reality.
3pt14159 5y ago
This is what we have at the University of Waterloo, my alma mater, in Canada. Two semesters of study, then alternating study-work-study-work etc until you graduate. It takes five years instead of four and you graduate with industry contacts, virtually no debt, and a couple years of experience. Plus the time you did spend in class or at the lab was coloured in from your work experience and your teammates could be leagues ahead of you at one specific speciality that they focussed on during their last semester. The program is so successful that some departments like Engineering mandate it. There is no non-coop engineering degree from Waterloo.
lumost 5y ago