Intuitive Knowledge Generation in Post-Bureaucratic Organizations

To address the need for more suitable cognitive mechanisms in post-bureaucratic organizations, this chapter explores how the use of intuition can enhance organizational decision making and information sharing, and thus contribute to knowledge generation in fast-paced, high-pressured environments. In the context of film production teams, as an example of such environment, it identifies three distinct categories that are in frequent use: intuitive expertise, intuitive creation, and intuitive foresight. The findings suggest that the employment of intuition in dynamic settings is indeed common but, contrary to previous beliefs, it is much more nuanced. Not only do various professional groups utilize different kinds of intuition, they also adjust its use to the specific type of activity. A distinction has been detected in particular between approaches to task-related versus people-related activities. The understanding which organizational player and under which conditions relies on intuition, provides new insights into knowledge generation in modern organizations.