Structural differentiation, meant to manage complexity, scatters the very knowledge needed

Evidence

The complex institutional dynamics that contributed to the failure among agencies to share vital intelligence information had their origins, ironically, in structural arrangements that were designed to avoid such problems. Structural differentiation, both vertical and horizontal, is one of the most commonly used mechanisms institutional decision makers use to manage informational complexity (Simon, 1981). Unfortunately, one consequence of such differentiation is that critical information—in the form of relevant knowledge and expertise—is necessarily distributed across organizational units. This distribution of knowledge creates what is termed a “transactive memory system” (Moreland, 1999). … Previous research has identified a number of benefits associated with transactive memory systems, especially at the dyadic and small group levels. For instance, the cognitive load for individual decision makers within such a system is reduced because different individuals can remember different information. Moreover, the overall memory system is enhanced because distinctive but complementary forms of expertise can be distributed among the interdependent decision makers. For example, a marital relationship in which the husband manages knowledge pertaining to all of the family’s medical needs and the wife manages knowledge related to the couple’s financial affairs enables each to off-load a substantial set of data that otherwise would have to be stored in memory. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 1996 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

We can conceive of system differentiation as a replication, within a system, of the difference between a system and its environment. Differentiation is thus understood as a reflexive and recursive form of system building. It repeats the same mechanism, using it to amplify its own results. In differentiated systems, as a result, we find two kinds of environment: the external environment common to all subsystems and a separate internal environment for each subsystem. This conception implies that each subsystem reconstructs and, in a sense, is the whole system in the special form of a difference between the sub-system and its environment. Differentiation thus reproduces the system in itself, multiplying specialized versions of the original system’s identity by splitting it into a number of internal systems and affiliated environments. This is not simply a decomposition into smaller chunks but rather a process of growth by internal disjunction. — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 340 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Routines and mental simplification are universal cognitive strategies for managing complexity — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of…, 617; Differentiation meant to manage complexity can itself cause information failures — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 1996; System differentiation reproduces the whole system inside each subsystem and grows by internal disjunction — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 340 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Differentiation meant to manage complexity can itself cause information failures #corroborates (0.97) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 1996
• System differentiation reproduces the whole system inside each subsystem and grows by internal disjunction #complicates (0.74) — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 340