Management of Extreme Situations
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Pascal Lièvre is Professor in Management Sciences at Clermont Auvergne University, France.
Monique Aubry is Professor of Project Management at the Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada.
Gilles Garel is Professor of Innovation Management at the National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts, France.
Content
Preface xvii
Cerisy Symposiums. Selection of Publications xxi
Introduction xxv
Part 1. Exploration and the Extreme 1
Section 1. The Logic of Exploration 3
Chapter 1. An Exemplary Exploration Story: Nansen's Expedition to the North Pole 5
Pascal LIÈVRE
1.1. Introduction 5
1.2. A project that makes "sense" because it is consistent with an identity-based learning trajectory 7
1.3. A radical dual ambidextrous capacity 9
1.3.1. Planning 10
1.3.2. Adaptation 11
1.3.3. Exploration 12
1.3.4. Exploitation 12
1.4. A dynamic of knowledge expansion in terms of an epistemic community 13
1.4.1. The Intention 14
1.4.2. The spark 15
1.4.3. The manifesto 15
1.4.4. Various experts who formed a community around the project 15
1.4.5. A continuous increase in implementing knowledge 16
1.5. Conclusion 16
1.6. References 17
Chapter 2. Project Management in Extreme Situations: The Manhattan Case 21
Sylvain LENFLE
2.1. Introduction 21
2.2. The origins of the Manhattan project 22
2.3. Exploring the unknown 23
2.4. The Manhattan Project organization 26
2.5. Project management as sensemaking 29
2.6. The expansive legacy of the Manhattan project and the limit of the metaphor 32
2.7. References 34
Section 2. Exploration Testimonies 37
Chapter 3. Exploration, the Common Theme of a Training System on Innovation 39
Bruno STÉVENIN and Éric DÉPRAETERE
3.1. The initial context at the origin of the adventure 39
3.2. The launch and preparation of the training program characteristic of exploration 40
3.3. The heart of program design: a step-by-step exploration 42
3.4. The transition to exploitation 49
3.5. Conclusion 52
3.6. 2017, Toward future explorations 53
3.7. References 53
Chapter 4. A New Progress Technique in the Himalayas 55
Paulo GROBEL
4.1. Introduction 55
4.2. The Himalayan technique, a reference 55
4.3. The emergence of new strategies 56
4.4. But also, listening to the doctors' recommendations... 57
4.5. "Doing it together" 57
4.6. Snail strategy, gentle progression, slow expedition, continuous progression? 58
4.6.1. Toward a name change 58
4.6.2. We have therefore named our strategy "progression douce" (gentle progression) 59
4.6.3. The gentle progression has become "the snail's strategy" 59
4.6.4. The snail strategy has been transformed into a slow expedition 60
4.6.5. Slow expedition now becomes continuous progress 60
4.7. Not to conclude.... 60
Section 3. Toward an Extreme Ethnography 63
Chapter 5. Some Methodological Considerations in Relation to the Objects Involved 65
Mondher KILANI
Chapter 6. Ethnography of the Extreme: Epistemological and Methodological Issues of the Use of Video 75
Géraldine RIX-LIÈVRE
6.1. Introduction 75
6.2. An involved and involving ethnography 77
6.3. Interests and limitations of the use of video in the production of materials 79
6.4. Video, a modality of ethnographic writing 81
6.5. Video, for an ethnography of activity 83
6.6. References 88
Part 2. Creativity and Organizational Reliability 91
Section 4. Organizational Creativity 93
Chapter 7. Management of a Crisis Situation in a Large Video Game Studio 95
Patrick COHENDET and Laurent SIMON
7.1. Introduction 95
7.2. A creativity crisis at Ubisoft's studio 96
7.3. Management of a major crisis 99
7.3.1. Bisociation 99
7.3.2. The recomposition of routines by a sequence of bisociations 101
7.4. Conclusion 103
7.5. References 103
Chapter 8. Organizing Innovative Design or How to Remain an Explorer: The Case of Creaholic 105
Gilles GAREL
8.1. Introduction 105
8.2. Innovative design and ambidextry 106
8.2.1. Forms of ambidexterity 107
8.2.2. Ambidextrous relationships 109
8.3. The case of Creaholic, an innovative design company 110
8.3.1. Creaholic, an IDE that produces repeated innovation 110
8.3.2. A relevant governance structure 112
8.4. Discussion and conclusion: the IDE and a return to exploitation 116
8.5. References 119
Section 5. Creativity under Constraint 121
Chapter 9. Creativity under Constraint: A Management Sciences Perspective 123
Guy PARMENTIER
9.1. Introduction 123
9.2. The different types of constraints and their actions 124
9.3. Internal design and cognitive constraints 125
9.4. Situational time and resource constraints 127
9.5. Border constraints 129
9.6. The construction of the sense of constraints 130
9.7. Organizational climate 131
9.8. Conclusion 133
9.9. References 133
Chapter 10. Creativity for Extreme Situations 139
Samira BOURGEOIS-BOUGRINE and Todd LUBART
10.1. Introduction 139
10.2. Introduction to creativity 140
10.2.1. Definition of creativity 140
10.2.2. Creative processes 141
10.3. Creativity and risk management 143
10.3.1. Creativity, insight and intuition when making decisions in extreme situations 144
10.3.2. Creativity and daily risk management 147
10.4. Creativity for anticipating extreme situations 148
10.4.1. What can we learn from fiction writers? 149
10.4.2. Co-creativity in a virtual environment 151
10.5. Conclusion 153
10.6. References 154
Section 6. Organizational Reliability 159
Chapter 11. Scope and Limits of Extreme Situations for Highly Reliable Organizations: A Pragmatic Interpretation 161
Benoît JOURNÉ
11.1. Introduction 161
11.2. The growing interest in extreme situations 161
11.3. The pragmatist approach to situations 162
11.4. HROs: keeping extreme situations under control 163
11.5. The mutual influence of situations and organization: between normality and extremity 164
11.6. Extremity traps and extreme situations 165
11.7. Conditions for a contribution of extreme situations to the knowledge of situations and organizations 166
11.8. References 167
Chapter 12. Error in Decision-Making Processes in Operational Situations: The Case of Fire Rescue Organizations 169
Anaïs GAUTIER
12.1. Introduction 169
12.2. The study of ordinary situations in codified activities for decision making 170
12.2.1. Extreme and unique contexts of at-risk organizations 170
12.2.2. Situation awareness theory to understand the cognitive process of actors 171
12.2.3. Reasoning error for a cognitive approach 171
12.3. Action-research methodology for analysing decision making in situations 172
12.4. The case of the organization of rescue operations in forest firefighting operations: the management of cross-border operations 174
12.4.1. Definition of the extreme context of the forest firefighting operation 174
12.4.2. Application of situation awareness theory to the identification of the decision-making process 175
12.5. Perception of error as a practice for learning 177
12.6. References 178
Part 3. Register of the Intelligibility of Extreme Management Situations 181
Section 7. Meaning and Sensemaking 183
Chapter 13. Going to Extreme Situations: What Meaning Should be Given to Such a Project? 185
Jean-Pierre BOUTINET
13.1. Introduction 185
13.2. Why go on a journey or an expedition? 186
13.3. The unavoidable concern of the quest for meaning 187
13.4. The project approach that generates meaning 188
13.5. The meaning of a project for its stakeholders: author and actors 190
13.6. The uncertainties linked to the project when thinking about extreme situations 192
13.7. What meaning should be given to the willingness to undertake the project? 193
13.7.1. Where can we go? 193
13.7.2. Why leave? 194
13.7.3. What significant opportunities dictate the current situation? 195
13.7.4. How does my current questioning resonate with my personal history? 196
13.7.5. Whom to carry out a project with? 197
13.8. To start a project, the art of steering a boat 198
13.9. References 200
Chapter 14. Sense, Sensitivity and Competence 201
Michel RÉCOPÉ
14.1. Introduction 201
14.2. Norms, actions and cognitive activity 202
14.3. Meaning or sense? 203
14.4. Proposal for "common sense" 204
14.5. "Sensitivity to" and practical rationality 206
14.6. "Sensitivity to" and structured activity 208
14.7. "Sensitivity to" and competence 210
14.8. What about extreme situations according to this approach? 210
14.9. References 211
Chapter 15. A Sea Kayaker's Identity Route and Learning Experience in the Arctic 215
Pascal CROSET
15.1. Genesis 215
15.2. 2007: the initiation 216
15.3. 2008: the road to autonomy 216
15.4. 2009: fraternity 218
15.5. 2010: learning about limits, and the need for sharing 219
15.6. 2011: the discovery of a new territory 220
15.7. 2012: teaming up with a (nearly) unknown person 221
15.8. 2013: filiation (1) 222
15.9. 2014: the parallel world 223
15.10. 2015: filiation (2) 224
15.11. 2016: filiation (3) between adults 225
15.12. 2017: serenity and satisfaction 225
15.13. Knowledge and self-improvement, more than an identity journey 226
15.14. Putting everything into perspective 227
15.15. Conclusion 228
Section 8. Organizational Ambidexterity 229
Chapter 16. Organizational Ambidexterity: The Double Organic Ambidexterity 231
Monique AUBRY
16.1. Summary 231
16.2. Double ambidexterity: an essential skill of the project manager 232
16.3. From polar expedition to organizational change 232
16.4. Methodological aspects 234
16.5. Identifying mode changes: transitions 234
16.5.1. Case A 235
16.5.2. Case B 235
16.5.3. Case C 235
16.6. Organic ambidexterity as a meta-competency 236
16.7. Conclusion 237
16.8. Acknowledgments 238
16.9. Appendix: changes in mode of action in all three cases 239
16.10. References 240
Chapter 17. Radical Change in an Extreme Context: Mountaineers Conquering the Darwin Cordillera in Patagonia 243
Geneviève MUSCA
17.1 Introduction 243
17.2. The episode of radical change 244
17.3. Implementation of a radical change in an extreme context 246
17.4. Methodology 247
17.5. The implementation of radical change: from boat to bags 248
17.6. References 250
Section 9. The Expansion of Knowledge 253
Chapter 18. A Knowledge Corpus and Innovation 255
Jean-Louis ERMINE and Pierre SAULAIS
18.1. Creativity is not only based on imagination 255
18.2. The use of existing knowledge to improve creativity 258
18.3. Case study: a creative process based on knowledge in Thales Air Systems 260
18.3.1. The creative environment 260
18.3.2. The creative process based on knowledge 263
18.4. Lessons learned and conditions for success 267
18.5. Appendix 268
18.6. References 270
Chapter 19. Community of Practice, Variation of Knowledge and Change in Extreme Management Situations 273
Jean-Philippe BOOTZ and Olivier DUPOUËT
19.1. Introduction 273
19.2 Emerging change and knowledge variation through spontaneous CoPs 274
19.2.1. Change as an emerging process 274
19.2.2. CoPs as a mechanism for developing and modifying practices 275
19.3. Change leads to constellations of communities 276
19.3.1. Knowledge variation and change within communities of practice 276
19.3.2. Propagation and combinations of variations in a constellation of communities 277
19.4. Induced change, knowledge expansion and pilot communities of practice 279
19.4.1. Leading change through managed communities of practice: a tension of self-organization/control 280
19.4.2. PCoPs and knowledge expansion: exploration and exploitation 282
19.5. Conclusion 285
19.6. References 285
Chapter 20. Expanding Knowledge and Mobilizing Social Networks 289
Marc LECOUTRE
20.1. Introduction 289
20.2. Innovation, network and knowledge expansion 290
20.3. Expanding knowledge: two examples in uncertain and risky situations 290
20.3.1. An example of the acquisition of scientific knowledge during the preparation for a polar expedition 291
20.3.2. An example of experiential learning: the crossing of Spitsbergen by a team of young students with little experience 291
20.4. The contributions of the two streams of research in social network theory 292
20.4.1. The approach by distinguishing ties according to their strength (Granovetter 1973) 292
20.4.2. The structural approach 294
20.5. Feedback and questions on these approaches 295
20.5.1. First question: the nature of the tie 295
20.5.2. Second question: the nature of knowledge 296
20.5.3. Third question: the nature of the process 297
20.6. The question of the nature of ties the notion of a "potentially strong" weak tie 298
20.7. Conclusion: relational network and process of knowledge expansion 300
20.8. References 301
Chapter 21. The Crowd and the Expansion of Knowledge 305
Claude GUITTARD and Éric SCHENK
21.1. Introduction 305
21.2. The crowds and knowledge 306
21.2.1. The crowd, the company and the market 306
21.2.2. The factors of crowd irrationality 306
21.3. Crowds and the media 309
21.4. The new visions of the crowd 310
21.5. Internet: towards a wise crowd? 311
21.6. Crowds and knowledge expansion: crowdsourcing 312
21.6.1. The different types of crowdsourcing 312
21.6.2. Crowdsourcing and knowledge expansion 317
21.7. Conclusion 319
21.8. References 320
Part 4 The Variety of Extreme Situations and Disciplinary Perspectives 323
Section 10. The Variety of Extreme Situations 325
Chapter 22. The Routines of Creation: From Artistic Direction to Collective Exploration 327
David MASSÉ
22.1. Introduction 327
22.2. Three training schemes in the creative industries 328
22.2.1. Guy Laliberté and the transformation of athletes into artists at Cirque du Soleil 328
22.2.2. Serge Hascoët and game design training at Ubisoft 329
22.2.3. Bartabas and the Académie du spectacle équestre de Versailles 329
22.3. The routines of creation: from artistic direction to the collective exploration of talents 330
22.3.1. Macro-routines: the "direction" links given by the creator 331
22.3.2. Micro-routines: exploration spaces for talent 333
22.4. Conclusion 335
22.4.1. Trick 1: highlighting practice in transmission 336
22.4.2. Trick 2: fostering accommodation through the reduction of feedback 336
22.4.3. Trick 3: creating an environment conducive to uncertainty 337
22.5. References 337
Chapter 23. The Young Researcher Program for Extreme Situations 339
Christelle BARON, Emmanuel BONNET, Stéphane CELLIER-COURTIL, Nicolas LAROCHE and Isabelle MAGNE
23.1. Introduction 339
23.2. What is a power that promotes the emergence of potential action among actors in situations of uncertainty? 340
23.3. The terms of engagement and the processes for regulating collective action in the context of the liberated company: the case of Crédit Agricole Centre Loire 341
23.4. The rules of the game of an epistemic community 342
23.5. Constructing action knowledge for a wealth management advisor 343
23.6. Rethinking logistics from knowledge flows 344
23.7. Conclusion 345
23.8. References 346
Section 11. Disciplinary Perspectives 351
Chapter 24. Knowledge Transfer and Learning in Extreme Situations: The Psychologist's Vision 353
Jean-Claude COULET
24.1. Introduction 353
24.2. Knowledge transfer: a questionable notion 354
24.2.1. The notions of knowledge 354
24.2.2. The development of knowledge 355
24.3. Learning: theoretical considerations 357
24.3.1. A modeling of skills 357
24.3.2. Forms of learning 359
24.4 Collective skills, learning and strategic management 360
24.4.1. Knowledge in practice 360
24.4.2. The hierarchy of skills 361
24.4.3. The articulation between individual and collective skills 361
24.5. Conclusion 363
24.6. References 364
Chapter 25. Expeditions as a Legitimate Object in Management Sciences 367
Linda ROULEAU
25.1. Introduction 367
25.2. Expeditions as "legitimate objects"? 368
25.3 Generalization, rigor and relevance in articles in peer-reviewed journals dealing with expeditions 370
25.4. Challenges of producing "legitimate" knowledge from the expedition as an empirical object 373
25.5. References 375
Conclusion 377
Gilles GAREL, Monique AUBRY and Pascal LIÈVRE
List of Authors 385
Index 389
Introduction
The purpose of this book, edited by Pascal Lièvre (CRCGM, UCA), Monique Aubry (ESG-UQAM) and Gilles Garel (CNAM), is to report on the Cerisy symposium held from June 14 to June 21, 2016, entitled "Management des situations extrêmes : des expéditions polaires aux organisations orientées exploration"1. This symposium was supported by Lirsa, CRCGM and Open Lab Exploration Innovation and took place in the always magical setting of the Château de Cerisy La Salle, in a rainy, studious, dense, continuous and friendly atmosphere. Calva and champagne punctuated our academic debates but also our evenings, which were based in a more sensitive register around testimonies/experiences concerning, for instance, the emergence of a new technology in the Himalayas or an identity itinerary of a sea kayaker in the Arctic. It brought together 52 participants. We would like to thank Edith Heurgon for her warm and firm welcome in this collective adventure and to the entire team for their logistical assistance at all times. A very special thought is expressed for Catherine de Condillac who has since moved to other heavens.
In this introduction, we propose first to recall the intention of the symposium and to report on the debates that took place, then to come back to some theoretical definitions and frameworks of the management of extreme situations program, and finally to present the outline of the book, which is an ex post rationalization of our work.
I.1. Intent and status of the debates
We set out in the following way the arguments that would form the basis of our reflections. Managers are often confronted with extreme management situations when they face collective action that takes the form of a project, intensive in terms of knowledge, in an evolving, uncertain and risky context. These situations may be intentional or non-intentional, but emergency and/or crisis situations also arise. In all cases, they are the subjects of a specific form of management where organizational creativity and reliability are combined. This conference therefore provided an opportunity to review the principles and mechanisms for managing these situations by exploring different types of terrain: from polar expeditions to innovative disruption approaches and fire rescue services. Research highlights three areas that increase the intelligibility of these situations: the construction of meaning within collectives, organizational ambidextrous capacities and systems for expanding experiential and scientific knowledge. In fine, the management of extreme situations appears to involve the management of disruptions that require "situated" learning, the source of which is creative human potential.
This conference was an opportunity to re-question definitions that were taken for granted around the management of extreme situations. First of all, different categories of the extreme have emerged with possibilities of articulation between them: extreme achievement, extreme innovation, extreme urgency, extreme crisis, etc. Extreme situations have been described as "new" but also as the daily prize of managers in the context of a knowledge economy. They have also appeared as "banal" and "old" in the context of wars, storms and diseases but also in the field of maritime, polar, high altitude and space exploration. The extreme management situation has been characterized as both an objective and subjective disruption with a more familiar past situation, moving toward a situation where the radically unpredictable new situation cannot be ruled out and where actions are never trivial, as they can have serious economic, organizational, vital or symbolic consequences. Finally, management has had very different attitudes toward the extreme: it first wanted to eliminate it, then face it and today it wants to generate it through disruptive innovation.
The debates revealed both differences and possible articulations between different ways of investing in this object on a theoretical level: in terms of a management "device" and an action plan in the sense of Hatchuel, in terms of "practice" in the sense of Bourdieu to move toward the notion of a "management situation" in the sense of Girin (1990) or that of a "project as practice" (Blomquist et al. 2010) and finally from the perspective of a firm theory in the sense of Cohendet (Cohendet et al. 2017). In all cases, an investigation of practices appeared to be somehow unavoidable, raising questions that fall within the scope of anthropology.
The heuristics of extreme situations were discussed. The construction of meaning was addressed from a variety of perspectives, but also as a certain way of combining "sensemaking" and "meaning". Natural ambidexterity at the team level appeared as the first example compared to organizational ambidexterity. The notions of "spark", "manifesto" and "community" have repeatedly been proposed as a chronological reading grid for knowledge expansion schemes. Other disciplines such as psychology have been invited into our exchanges on several occasions. Expeditions, whether polar or mountain expeditions, have found their full legitimacy in management sciences. We have also been able to show that it is possible to establish links between creativity and reliability within organizations. In the end, it is a question of learning in situations and its regulation that has emerged as a major issue in the management of extreme situations.
I.2. Some framework elements around the management of extreme situations
The starting point of this research program is the emergence of a knowledge economy in the 1990s (Drucker 1993; Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995; Hatchuel and Weil 2002; Foray 2003; Amin and Cohendet 2004) which is leading managers to face a new kind of management situation that we call extreme: management situations that are at odds with a usual way of doing things, with what we used to do before, and that will require actors to acquire new knowledge to cope with the situation. Management situations are the conditions where, as we will see later on, the unknown, scalability, radical uncertainty and risk become the elements with which managers must work. These management situations are a total disruption compared to what managers experienced during the 1950-1975 period, in an economy of production and mass consumption, and a smaller but still strong disruption with an economy of quality (1974-1990). But above all, this new economy is characterized by permanent change (Foray 2009), the era of permanent disruptions "the movement" as Alter (2002) calls it. The question of learning, adaptation and innovation is permanently raised as a matrix of the organization's performance (Nonaka 1994).
This is a new type of management situation that we are addressing in a more precise way, such as "the design and implementation of collective actions in the form of projects, intensive in terms of knowledge, in an evolving, uncertain and risky context" (Lièvre 2016). This type of extreme management situation also corresponds to what some authors such as Hatchuel, Garel and Lenfle call innovative exploration projects that are mainly characterized by the fact that objectives and means will emerge along the way (Lenfle 2008). At the same time, if these new management situations are largely unknown in the field of management, if they must be radically considered as enigmas according to Hatchuel's expression, we make the assumption that we can learn from ordinary scientists such as polar shippers, for example, who have faced this type of management situation for three centuries. On the one hand, as historians, we have taken an interest in the logbooks of many expeditions (Lièvre and Rix-Lièvre 2013), but we have also take an interest, on the other hand, as anthropologists, in 10 expeditions from the idea to the return to France by building ethnographic devices capable of investing in the practices located (Lièvre and Rix-Lièvre 2009, 2014; Rix-Lièvre and Lièvre 2010, 2014).
This is why we have chosen in this book to present an exemplary polar expedition, Nansen's mission to explore the North Pole; to invest in the change of plan when the world's first mountaineering project was realized in Patagonia; to gather the testimony of a Himalayan in his approach to expedition innovation; a sea kayaker in the Arctic in terms of his identity and learning path; but also that of Michelin's training managers in charge of this new managerial approach: exploration.
By mobilizing this notion of management situation developed by Jacques Girin (1983), we borrow a particular problem from the management sciences. This is the process of empowerment in relation to the economic and social sciences. We focus on a particular research object, the management situation, in a clinical or engineering posture by mobilizing a resolutely interactionist theoretical framework in the sense of the Chicago school of thought, by investing in "situated" practices, and by focusing on the assembly of human and non-human actors constitutive of the performance of collective action.
Let us return more precisely to this notion of the management situation. We will take as a starting point the definition proposed by Girin as early as 1983: the management situation is a collective activity linked to a result that is the subject of a judgment, and where...
