Host: Welcome to A.I.S. Insights, the podcast at the intersection of business and technology, powered by Living Knowledge. I’m your host, Anna Ivy Summers.
Host: Today, we’re diving into a topic that happens in every company but is rarely managed well: employee workarounds. We’ll be discussing a fascinating study titled “Workarounds—A Domain-Specific Modeling Language.”
Host: To help us unpack it, we have our expert analyst, Alex Ian Sutherland. Alex, welcome.
Expert: Great to be here, Anna.
Host: So, this study introduces a new visual language to help organizations identify and manage these workarounds. First, Alex, can you set the scene for us? What’s the big problem with workarounds that this study is trying to solve?
Expert: Absolutely. The core problem is that companies are flying blind. Employees invent workarounds all the time to get their jobs done, bypassing procedures they see as inefficient. But management often has no systematic way to see what’s happening or to understand the impact.
Host: So they’re like invisible, unofficial processes running inside the official ones?
Expert: Exactly. And the study points out that these can cause complex chain reactions. A simple shortcut in one department might solve a local problem but create a massive compliance risk or data quality issue somewhere else down the line. Without a clear framework, businesses can't decide if a workaround is a brilliant innovation to be adopted or a dangerous liability to be stopped.
Host: That makes sense. You can’t manage what you can’t see. How did the researchers approach creating a solution for this?
Expert: They used an approach called Design Science. Instead of just observing the problem, they set out to build a practical tool to solve it. In this case, they designed and developed a brand-new modeling language specifically for visualizing workarounds. Then they tested its applicability using a real-world case from a large manufacturing company.
Host: So they built a tool for the job. What was the main outcome? What does this tool, this new language, actually do?
Expert: The primary outcome is called the Workaround Modeling Notation, or WAMN for short. Think of it as a visual blueprint for workarounds. It allows a manager to map out the entire story: what caused the workaround, what the employee actually does, and all the consequences that follow.
Host: And what makes it so effective?
Expert: A few things. First, it treats workarounds not just as deviations, but as potential bottom-up innovations. It reframes the conversation. Second, it uses really clear visual cues. For example, positive effects of a workaround are colored green, and negative effects are red.
Host: I like that. It sounds very intuitive. You can see the balance of good and bad immediately.
Expert: Precisely. In the manufacturing case they studied, one workaround saved time on the assembly line—a positive, green effect. But it also led to inaccurate inventory records—a negative, red effect. WAMN puts both of those impacts on the same map, making the trade-offs crystal clear and untangling how one workaround can cascade into another.
Host: This is the key part for our listeners. Alex, why does this matter for business? What are the practical takeaways for a manager or executive?
Expert: This is incredibly practical. First, WAMN gives you a structured way to stop guessing. You can move from anecdotes about workarounds to a data-driven conversation about their true costs and benefits.
Host: So it helps you make better decisions.
Expert: Yes, and it helps you turn employee creativity into a competitive advantage. That clever shortcut an employee designed might be a brilliant process improvement waiting to be standardized across the company. WAMN provides a path to identify and scale those bottom-up innovations safely.
Host: So it’s a tool for both risk management and innovation.
Expert: Exactly. It helps you decide whether to adopt, adapt, or prevent a workaround. The study mentions creating a "workaround board"—a dedicated group that uses these visual maps to make informed decisions. It creates a common language for operations, IT, and management to collaborate on improving how work actually gets done.
Host: Fantastic. So, to summarize for our audience: companies are filled with employee workarounds that are often invisible and poorly understood.
Host: This study created a visual language called WAMN that allows businesses to map these workarounds, clearly see their positive and negative effects, and treat them as a source of potential innovation.
Host: Ultimately, it’s about making smarter, more consistent decisions to improve processes from the ground up. Alex, thank you so much for breaking that down for us.
Expert: My pleasure, Anna.
Host: And thanks to our audience for tuning into A.I.S. Insights, powered by Living Knowledge. Join us next time as we decode another key piece of research for your business.