Abstract

We reflect on change, in observing the experience (1990-2024) of a University Socio-Technical research group dedicated to instil change for innova- tion in client organisations and enterprises. The trajectory of the group exhibits the dynamic interplay of two components of subjectivity, change of action focus or persistence of the scheme for action, a tension between stability and change. This is the second of a triptych dedicated to the group culture and action. The first has laid down mission critical – autopoiesis - theoretical considerations. This paper illustrates stability meanings the group gave to their practice, consisting in the application of reflexive feedback on external solicitations not aligned with their identitarian scheme of action - the Social Practice Design (SPD) approach to intervention - resulting in their selective neglection. The third will illustrate the meanings of change of focus of the action. Here we describe the meanings of the persistence and stability of the SPD critical system theory intervention ap- proach – Ciborra’s participatory design based on pathos, improvisation, mood and bricolage, blended together with therapeutic Rogersian co-construction - ex- hibited by four sample interventions for innovation, several years apart, in all spanning over two decades, in quite different contexts: a tourist destination man- agement organisation, an online marketplace exploiting mobile-internet based communication, a municipality delivering digital services supporting the elderly, a non-medical paediatric clinic. Four sample interventions for innovation, all dis- playing stability of the scheme for action: of the SPD critical system theory in- tervention approach, identitarian for the group.

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