The obituary as bricolage: the Mann Gulch disaster and the problem of heroic rationality

Abstract

This paper discusses Claudio Ciborra's critique of traditional economic rationality. It recounts his account of the Mann Gulch Disaster. The important aspect of his reading of the disaster is that apparently irrational actions may provide appropriate solutions for complex problems. He bases this observation on a phenomenology-inspired understanding of the world which emphasises Dasein's characteristic as being-in-the-world. The paper interprets this as an important contribution to the critique of rationality as put forward by critical research in information systems. However, this phenomenological approach also raises new issues due to its difficulty of dealing with intersubjective understanding and problems of self-application. The paper concludes by suggesting that such difficulties can be overcome by appropriating Ciborra's idea of bricolage and that this special issue may be read as an expression of such collective bricolage.

Keywords:

• heroic management
• critical research
• rationality
• Mann Gulch disaster

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Bernd Carsten Stahl

About the author

Bernd Carsten Stahl is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Computer Sciences and Engineering and a Research Associate at the Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility of De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. His interests cover philosophical issues arising from the intersections of business, technology, and information. This includes the ethics of computing and critical approaches to information systems. He is the editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Technology and Human Interaction.