Organized Discretion

Abstract

Discretionary judgement-defined as the freedom to decide how to act within controlled limits-is increasingly being exercised in teams and networks. We introduce the notion of collective discretionary room to emphasize this relational nature of discretionary judgement. Collective discretionary room is the freedom granted to a team or a network to reach judgements to take action. In this chapter we describe the main differences between discretion as an individual asset of a worker versus discretion as collective resource of a team or network. The first difference is the aim which changes from being responsive in individual situations to improving policy designs and outcomes. The second difference entails control. Collective discretionary room merges using and controlling freedom. In addition, collective discretionary room offers mechanisms to control and enhance the quality of the working methods.