Much of the necessary knowledge to complete tasks is not written down but ‘stored’ in the organisation completing the tasks explicitly including the people actually doing it.
I think this is a common case but not the only one.
The counter-example that came to mind is franchises. When you buy a franchise (e.g. a McDonalds) you do not only get a brand name, suppliers, etc. You get an explicit set of written-down business processes (the “three-ring binder” in Snowcrash terms). Part of the whole point of franchises is that you can “complete tasks” in a reasonable manner when starting from scratch, without any intangible institutional memory or knowledge in the heads of long-term workers.
I don’t know how explicit running a McDonalds is but this is a very interesting point. This lends credence to my belief that it is not out of some fundamental principle that necessary knowledge to run a plant is not written down.
I think it has to do with complexity limits. Running things by the book and solely by the book is possible only as long as the overall complexity is manageable.
I think this is a common case but not the only one.
The counter-example that came to mind is franchises. When you buy a franchise (e.g. a McDonalds) you do not only get a brand name, suppliers, etc. You get an explicit set of written-down business processes (the “three-ring binder” in Snowcrash terms). Part of the whole point of franchises is that you can “complete tasks” in a reasonable manner when starting from scratch, without any intangible institutional memory or knowledge in the heads of long-term workers.
I don’t know how explicit running a McDonalds is but this is a very interesting point. This lends credence to my belief that it is not out of some fundamental principle that necessary knowledge to run a plant is not written down.
I think it has to do with complexity limits. Running things by the book and solely by the book is possible only as long as the overall complexity is manageable.