thesis.

Library Theses Research Arguments Field studies Institute People Convenings

The shelf. Seven volumes, one per problem the institute intends to solve.

Three carry an opening argument and a confidence mark. Four are published as the agenda so the framing can be argued with before the work starts. Pull one out to read it.

In focus

003 · Management Is Becoming an Operating System

Numbered positions on how work is changing. Each one sourced, challenged, and reviewed on a published date.

The register is the institute's memory. A thesis can be revised or retired, but it is never deleted; the previous claim stays on the record with what changed and why.

Filter

All · Argued · On the agenda

Original studies that test a thesis against evidence, with methods and limitations published in full.

Research is heavier than commentary. Every study names the thesis it supports or challenges, the sample, and what it does not establish.

Latest

Research 05 · The Agent Ownership Study

Essays, interviews, responses and field notes. Every one a claim someone can disagree with.

Lighter than research, still tied to the library. An argument that moves a thesis is linked to the revision it caused.

This week

Augment, don't replace · Jeff Wald

Theses applied inside real organizations, for two to four quarters, with the outcome reported against a written baseline.

This is where a position earns or loses confidence. Every field study ships with its limitations. Organizations are described, not named, until they consent.

Latest

Moving people, not skills · a 9,000-person manufacturer

How the work moves from signal to impact, and the standards that hold it to account.

Seven stages, from noticing a pattern to measuring what changed in the world. Plus evidence, counterargument, revision and independence standards, published in full.

Fellows and contributors, listed by what they have authored, challenged, and revised.

A profile here is a record of intellectual contribution, not a biography. Challengers are credited alongside authors.

Working sessions built to test a live thesis, with the question published before and the synthesis after.

Small rooms, real disagreement, and a written record of which positions moved.

Next

What is management for when coordination becomes software? · 08 October

Newsletter Search Standards Independence Contact

People

Fellows, by what they have argued.

A profile here is a record of intellectual contribution, not a biography: theses authored, theses challenged, research led, and the question each fellow is currently holding. The roster is being built. Named fellows are on the record; the open seats are the bench we are filling.

Named: 3
Open seats: 10
Sponsors: 5 organizations, unnamed

Erin Eatough

Organizational psychology · Trust · Skills

If trust is a property of the system, what does it cost to redesign for it, and who pays?

Jeff Wald

Labor markets · Management · The unit of work

When agents can execute, what exactly is a manager for?

1authored Founder

George Rivera

Work architecture · Judgment · Management

What would a company have to be able to do for any of these seven problems to be solved?

Research lead

Unnamed

Coordination · Decision rights · Measurement

Can coordination quality be measured well enough to manage, without turning it into a metric people game?

Fellow

Unnamed

Operations · Logistics · Field method

Which decision rights should never be automated, and how would we know?

Fellow

Unnamed

Automation · Labor · Exceptions

If value concentrates in exceptions, why do we still price roles on throughput?

Fellow

Unnamed

Productivity · Systems · Tooling

What would a productivity tool look like if it optimized the space between people?

Fellow

Unnamed

Skills · Labor economics · Mobility

How much of what we call reskilling is actually relocation of people between contexts?

Fellow

Unnamed

Organizational design · Planning · Structure

What replaces the org chart when the workflow is the unit?

Fellow

Unnamed

Policy · Institutions · Regulation

Which rules of work are written for a unit that no longer exists?

Fellow

Unnamed

Incentives · Capital · Compensation

Why do compensation systems take five years to notice a change that tooling makes in five weeks?

Fellow

Unnamed

AI systems · Workflow · Ownership

What does accountability look like for a workflow no single person runs?

Field director

Unnamed

Field studies · Management practice · Method

What is the smallest intervention that would falsify a thesis inside a real organization?

Contributors and sponsors.

Described, not named, until they consent.

A chief operating officerNational logistics operatorSponsor, Field study 01
A chief operating officerHealth system, 22,000 peopleSponsor, Field study 02
A chief operating officerB2B softwareSponsor, Field study 03
A head of operationsFinancial servicesSponsor, Field study 04
A chief people officerManufacturing, 9,000 peopleSponsor, Field study 05
A labor economistUniversity research groupReviewer, Research 04