Donald R. Greer and Laura J. Black
Some of the most compelling work on organizations proceeds on the premise of the social construction of knowledge. Berger and Luckmann’s 1967 treatise brought to light how social interactions influence ways that we perceive “knowledge” and how we internalize that we “know” a thing, a person, or a representation. Although many researchers of knowledge organizations and knowledge work take social construction as a given, some of its key assertions remain unexamined. We use a simple simulation model to re-examine some of these assertions, including the role of iteration implicit in interactions. Revisiting the work of George Herbert Mead, who greatly influenced symbolic interactionism and the Chicago School of sociology, we make more explicit some of the dynamic challenges—and points of leverage—in creating shared meaning. We then discuss implications as they relate to practical matters such as managing a thesis committee or a consulting client, as well as to research on knowledge-work.