Företagskulturers makt : överbrygga språkliga klyftor

Sammanfattning: How do we work in projects that are expected to bridge cultural, social and historical boundaries? Is it possible to apply stated instructions across these boundaries so that, for example, the task of producing a requirement specification is interpreted in the same way by all the parties involved? In this thesis, the author takes a stand against his personal experience from such a trans-cultural project – a project in which he failed. A factor that made a strong contribution to this failure was the inability of the companies involved to manage the underlying complex of problems, problems associated with the philosophy of language. They possessed neither the knowledge nor the instruments to bridge the chasms of language. Essential reflection and analysis was replaced by the power language of the enterprise; individuals were singled out and held responsible, and the failure was relegated by definition to the level of personal issues. Experience does not automatically become knowledge; this is a process that requires reflection. The author suggests a number of ways of tackling communications problems among people who not only do not understand one another, but do not understand that they do not understand. The latter may mean that two people think that something is unambiguous, yet their interpretations diverge. This is when problems occur. Nobody has made a mistake – both parties have acted properly, they have even (perhaps) talked the matter through and reached agreement, yet the result still does not coincide with what they anticipated. A central concept is dialogue. Through its organised form, dialogue can make openings in problems that cut through cultural, social and historical boundaries. It is an approach that may be illustrated through authors and philosophers such as Witold Gombrowicz, Ludwik Fleck, Oscar Wilde, Joseph Conrad and Galileo Galilei. This study has its basis and its origins in the research area of Skills and Technology at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm (KTH).