The Problem: Technology-Driven Systems

The main obstacle to the office of the future over the past period can be summarized as follows: there has been no adequate methodology or way of assessing the system needs of an organization, designing and implementing comprehensive sociotechnical systems which correspond to those needs, and measuring the effects of the system, once implemented. In other words, many of the main difficulties of this “third wave” in the office have not been technological. Rather, they have focused on our ability to understand system requirements, psychological needs, and organizational factors. More and more it appears that the biggest challenges are in making systems appropriate, and dealing with the many complex human and organizational issues in system design and implementation.