Applying cognitive system engineering to cope with complexity in enterprises

Abstract

Enterprises, commercial or even a military force, exist in a complex world. They have to continuously serve the purpose they are designed for, and to grow as opportunities arise. The operations of the enterprise are always constrained by available resources, governing regulations and the operations of competing enterprises. This leads to “wicked” and “messy” problems facing the enterprise. The enterprise has to detect and analyse changes, which place a risk on fulfilling the enterprise’s purpose, in the environment and inside the enterprise itself. The enterprise therefore requires a management system, similar to a military Command and Control (C2) system, to monitor the status of the enterprise as well as the environment. The ability of an enterprise to exploit available information is crucial, despite the continuous increasing complexity. The management system has to assist the managers, or commanders, of the enterprise with sense making and decision making on the most suitable course of action. Humans have the cognitive ability to develop creative solutions as required within the complex environment. The Human Machine Interfaces (HMI) between the humans and the enterprise Command and Control system must be geared to support and enhance the human capabilities. This HMI has to be developed to operate within complex environmental constraints while supporting complex social interaction and the cognitive strategies and competencies of the complex human decision makers. Cognitive System Engineering (Cognitive SE) has been applied successfully in the military and emergency response environment. Additional complexity assessment frameworks, such as Cynefin from Snowden and Kurz (2003), can be incorporated for making sense of the complex environment. These methods may also be applicable to other enterprises.