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Preface

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2011

Ronald E. Rice
Affiliation:
University of California, Santa Barbara
Stephen D. Cooper
Affiliation:
Marshall University
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Summary

When something goes wrong

I'm the first to admit it

I'm the first to admit it

And the last one to know.

When something goes right

It's likely to lose me

It's apt to confuse me

It's such an unusual sight.

(Paul Simon, Something So Right, © 1973)

This book identifies, describes, and analyzes the pervasive and frustrating experiences people have with dysfunctional feedback in organizational and societal contexts, by showing that they are symptoms and consequences of unusual routines. An unusual routine is a recurrent interaction pattern in which someone encounters a problem in trying to accomplish normal activities by following procedures, then becomes enmeshed in wasteful and even harmful subroutines while trying to resolve the initial problem, creating and reinforcing unintended and (typically) undesirable outcomes, to some set of people, subsystems, organization, or society, either within or across system levels (or both). Often, the feedback loops about this initial unusual routine are either non-existent, dysfunctional, or deviation-reinforcing, creating a second-level, or meta-, routine. The term “unusual routines” is intentionally oxymoronic. The processes and consequences, when known, would be considered unusual, unacceptable, or negative by one or more stakeholders. Although the phenomenon is pervasive, any particular instance may be infrequent and difficult to identify. Nonetheless, the process and consequences are systematic, to the point where they become routinized and embedded in other routines.

Type
Chapter
Information
Organizations and Unusual Routines
A Systems Analysis of Dysfunctional Feedback Processes
, pp. xi - xiii
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

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  • Preface
  • Ronald E. Rice, University of California, Santa Barbara, Stephen D. Cooper
  • Book: Organizations and Unusual Routines
  • Online publication: 10 January 2011
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511779886.001
Available formats
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Preface
  • Ronald E. Rice, University of California, Santa Barbara, Stephen D. Cooper
  • Book: Organizations and Unusual Routines
  • Online publication: 10 January 2011
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511779886.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Preface
  • Ronald E. Rice, University of California, Santa Barbara, Stephen D. Cooper
  • Book: Organizations and Unusual Routines
  • Online publication: 10 January 2011
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511779886.001
Available formats
×