Learning Dysfunctions in Information Systems Development: Overcoming the Social Defenses with Transitional Objects
Authors: Wastell, David
Journal: MIS Quarterly (1999)
DOI: 10.2307/249490
Given the continuing prevalence of IS failure, this paper contends that a fresh theoretical perspective and new methodological principles are required. It is argued that learning is crucial to the success of ISD, and that many IS projects miscarry due to the inherently high levels of stress and anxiety that imbue ISD and that elicit defense-avoidance behavior patterns in project teams. Such social defenses reflect modes of group behavior that operate primarily to reduce anxiety, rather than reflecting genuine engagement with the task at hand. It is argued that the operation of these defenses can come to paralyze the learning processes that are critical to effective IS development Following a clinical research strategy, case studies are presented illustrating the working of defensive processes which undermined three IS projects. Three social defenses are illustrated: the organizational ritual, the sibling horde, and paranoid isolationism. Drawing on psychodynamic theory, the concept of transitional space is introduced. Such spaces have two important aspects: a supportive psychological climate and a supply of appropriate transitional objects (i.e., entities that provide temporary em…