Main trends of research in the social and human ... - unesdoc - Unesco

790 Eric Trist
14. Though there are many areas of social science which do not require this
strategy it is not yet realized how many there are which do. The basic organiza-
tional form pertinent to this type of study is the jointlyengaged group of ‘research-
ers’ and ‘researched‘.
Group creativeness
15. That group, in addition, to individual creativeness may be required in face
of higher orders of complexity poses organizational problems of a novel charac-
ter. For the belief is ingrained that scientific innovation is the product of an
exceptional but individual mind. The apparent evidence would support this
belief which belongs to the tradition of academic individualism. Yet there is
another aspect. Exceptional minds tend to exist in networks of mutual influence
extended over space and time. This was so, even in the 17th and 18th centuries,
when the natural sciences arose. 160 Under contemporary conditions, these net-
works have increased in number, in density, in degree of overlap, and in fre-
quency and immediacy of encounter. They represent systems of inter-personal
choices in which the individuals concerned become selectively inter-dependent.*
Such groups tend to be shifting and temporary. They are rarely bound by formal
relations, though their members recognize them as a necessary condition of
their capacity to innovate.
16. The increasing importance of problem-oriented research as a means of
advancing fundamental knowledge is strengthening the trend among selectively
inter-dependent groups to form more permanent organizations (i.e. Type c
institutes). This arises because problem-oriented research requires operational
commitment to a common group task as the means by which a shared direction
in scientific ideas can be empirically realized. Since this realization must be
accomplished under real life conditions, relations with various kinds of clien-
tele are involved. Their trust can be secured only if they experience stability in
the research organization.
17. To achieve this stability such organizations must create a value system
based on a co-operative pooling of resources:
a. This is facilitated by the sharing of a common status among senior members,
as by the fellows of a college.
b. It is reinforced by the experience of group products being superior to in-
dividual products.
c. Yet when some members contribute more than others this requires recogni-
tion.
d. Members of such organizations tend to deploy themselves in loosely coupled
overlapping sub-sets - or assemblies. Recent neuro-physiological research
has shown that this is how the brain would appear to work.** An analogue
of the brain at a higher system level is what one is seeking to discover.
This total configuration is the opposite of academic individualism. It makes a
poor match with the fixed roles and statuses of university departments, especial-
* This term is due to F. E. EMERY.
** Cf. S. TOMKINS, Affect, Imagery and Consciousness, Vol. l.IE6