This is the table of contents for the new book. At least it’s the ToC I am using while I write the first draft.
Table of Contents
Part 1: We aren’t all AI Companies
- Chapter 1: From a Light Bulb to a Disco
- Chapter 2: Imaging Future AI Commodities
- Chapter 3: A Dance of Stability and Change
Part 2: Minds and Reasoning
- Chapter 4: A Mind As An Organisation
- Chapter 5: An Organisational As A Mind
- Chapter 6: Unfamiliar Intelligence
Part 3: Correcting Wrong Turns
- Chapter 7: Do we really know how to manage technology?
- Chapter 8: How well do we really manage people?
- Chapter 9: Are we ever really clear about what we want?
Part 4: Rethinking for Co-Working with AI
- Chapter 10: The Difference Between a Co-Pilot and a Co-Worker
- Chapter 11: Co-working for creativity
- Chapter 12: Co-working with language
- Chapter 13: Co-working with coordination
- Chapter 14: Co-working with deciding
Part 5: Bringing Back Precision (this is SyFi)
- Chapter 15: Learning Down To the Roots
- Chapter 16: We are the words that we speak (precision in language)
- Chapter 17: Manage Without Them (precision in the management function)
- Chapter 18: Organisational Operating Systems (precision in the theory of the firm)
Part 6: Leadership Actions
- Chapter 19: Starting with Workforce Analysis
- Chapter 20: New Competency Centers
- Chapter 21: Leading and Managing For One
- Chapter 22: The New Accountable Executive
Part 7: Introduction to WorkSense Services
- Chapter 22: Why we do what we do
There is also ad associated YouTube channel for this book. At the moment is it experiments and progress reports on the book itself.
I’m also collaborating with Julio Graham for this book; as I have for SenseOfWorkPodcast.com.
Back Cover Text (draft for inspiration while writing first draft)
Preparing for the AI revolution by rethinking organisational design as a metaphor of the mind
Organisational Reasoning rethinks how we design our organisations to incorporate emerging AI capabilities. The organisational challenge of artificial intelligence is not how to manage artificial humans; because we already manage humans today.
Our challenge is to build organisations that have the right mix of all of the available types of intelligence and the communication and control mechanisms required to operate, adapt, and evolve. We have been building our organisations with the assumption that a human-in-the-middle will be sufficient ensure value and mitigate risks.
There is an opportunity for the integration of AI into our organisation to be source of human flourishing, to bring back the intrinsic joy of work, and to shift mundane tasks towards discovery and creativity.
But to capture this opportunity we need to build organisations that transcend traditional structures, envisioning organisations as dynamic, intelligent systems capable of unprecedented adaptability and innovation. The metaphor of an organisation as a reasoning mind might be the best tool we have to start this journey.
We know a lot about how organisations work but have dismissed much of the science of organisation design as we focused on human-centric models. This book reveals how embracing these previously sidelined approaches can dramatically enhance our readiness for AI integration, by designing organisations not just with humans in the loop but as collaborative ecosystems where humans and AI amplify each other’s strengths.
At its heart, this is a manifesto for a transformative shift in workforce planning and organisational design. It’s about reimagining roles, relationships, and structures to create a future where organisations and AI collaborate seamlessly, driving towards shared goals with efficiency and creativity.
“Organisational Reasoning” is a guide to navigating the next frontier in organisational development. Prepare to rethink everything you know about organisation design, workforce planning, and the role of AI in shaping the future of work.