Design of Cognition, Cognition of Design—A Cybernetics and Phenomenological Approach to Enhancing Organizational Cognition

This conceptual paper aims to broaden the perspective of organizational studies by moving beyond sole reliance on the scientific dimension of observing the world through the method of reductio ad absurdum. Instead, it proposes the integration of second-order cyberneticsSecond-order cybernetics and a designDesign weltanschauung into the normative structuring of organizational embodimentEmbodiment within managerial frameworks. Grounded in a constructivist framework, this approach is recognized as the third pillar of human knowing. However, the application of cyberneticsCybernetics in the field of design remains limited. The process of reducing design to a scientific endeavor has restricted its broader implications as an area of study, diverting attention from holistic ontogenetical emerging inquiries that are essential to the essence of design. To establish the relevance of business studies, it is necessary for managers to engage in research through a second-order intervention. This entails designing organizations’ avant le letter, which means designing practical artifacts within a hermeneutical constructivist loop of knowledge and becoming. Rather than focusing on misguided questions about “what is,” business studies should redirect their inquiry towards the more appropriate question of “what can be.” Consequently, the foundation of business administration is best understood as constructivist rather than metaphysical. This paper critically reviews influential publications in the fields of cybernetics, philosophy, designDesign, and second-order cybernetics, and integrates their insights into a coherent framework. The authors propose that cognitionCognition, cyberneticsCybernetics, and design are interconnected phenomena, suggesting that business constructs potential worlds of autopoietic and homeostatic functionality as it navigates complexity, rather than solely pursuing profit. This paper sets the groundwork for the application of second-order cyberneticsSecond-order cybernetics by positioning managers within the domain of design as creators of possible worlds (sein-können). Organizational design involves constructing appropriate and effective organizational Eigen-behavior. This approach draws inspiration from the works of Heinz von Foerster, Ernst von Glaserfeld, Stafford Beer, Herbert Simon, and Bruce Archer, establishing a strong foundation in designDesign epistemology for implementing second-order intervention in contemporary HR management within complex organizations.