Information Can Arrive on Time and Still Arrive Too Late Cognitively

Information Can Arrive on Time and Still Arrive Too Late Cognitively

Institutions often measure information timeliness in simple chronological terms. A report arrived before the meeting, a risk was escalated before the formal decision or a briefing was delivered before...
Can AI Help an Institution Understand, or Only Process More Information?

Can AI Help an Institution Understand, or Only Process More Information?

Artificial intelligence can dramatically increase the amount of information an institution is able to process. Systems can search large document collections, classify cases, identify statistical patte...
More Expertise Means More Interfaces

More Expertise Means More Interfaces

Specialisation is one of the foundations of institutional capability. Complex organisations depend on people who know different things deeply, from legal interpretation and financial analysis to engin...
Too Much Translation Can Destroy the Original Meaning

Too Much Translation Can Destroy the Original Meaning

Institutional coordination depends heavily on translation. Different departments, professions and organisations often use different concepts, vocabularies and evidentiary standards, even when they are...

New Research Articles

Interoperability Between Cognitive Institutions

Interoperability Between Cognitive Institutions

Modern governance depends increasingly upon the ability of institutions to work together across organisational, disciplinary and t...
Why Collaboration Creates Better Governance

Why Collaboration Creates Better Governance

Collaboration has become one of the defining characteristics of contemporary governance. Governments increasingly encourage instit...
Collective Decision-Making at Government Scale

Collective Decision-Making at Government Scale

Government decisions are often presented as if they were the outcome of a single authority acting with unified purpose and complet...
Networks That Think Together

Networks That Think Together

Modern governance increasingly depends upon networks rather than isolated organisations. Public institutions collaborate across ad...

Policy Papers

Books - Institutional Cognition Series

The Learning Institution – Book II

The Learning Institution – Book II

What does it mean for an institution to learn? Governments, public agencies, companies, universities and international organisations constantly accumulate experience, preserve records, evaluate outcom...
The Thinking Institution  – Book I

The Thinking Institution – Book I

What does it mean to say that an institution knows, remembers, interprets or makes judgements when no single individual possesses everything the institution appears capable of knowing? The Thinking In...