An adaptive framework for knowledge work

This paper characterizes the complexity of a knowledge worker’s environment in today’s business enterprise. This environment, with its ever‐changing landscape of tasks, processes, tools, and technologies, is making prohibitive demands on the knowledge worker’s time and attention. To aid in the successful navigation of this complex environment, we present a complexity‐based model of the knowledge worker’s behavior entailing cognitive as well as structural practices. Viewing knowledge work in the context of interactions ‐ among users and the company’s and external resources ‐ we propose that a company’s knowledge management efforts should employ technologies that facilitate these interactions by reducing the time and attention requirements for its workforce. We introduce a set of knowledge techniques and tools, and agent‐based architectures, and show how they can be integrated to create a framework that is flexible, evolvable and adaptable to the user’s needs. When the interactions are facilitated and increased, such a system has potential to exhibit efficiency, coordination and innovation as an “emergent” outcome.