Foster the "right" degree of information flow, diversity and difference, connections inside and outside the organization, power differential and anxiety, instead of controlling information, forcing agreement, dealing separately with contentious groups, working systematically down all the layers of the hierarchy in sequence and seeking comfort.

Tales
Another way to think
Power of information

Bibliography
Kauffman:
At Home
Waldrop:
Complexity
Stacey:
Creativity
Goldberger:
Non-linear dynamics

Aides
Wicked Questions
Metaphor
Stacey matrix
Generative relationships
reflection

Theoretical studies of complex adaptive systems suggest that creative self-organization occurs when there is just enough information flow, diversity, connectivity, power differential and anxiety among the agents. Too much of any of these can lead to chaotic system behavior; too little and the system remains stuck in a pattern of behavior.

Again, we can look to biological sciences for a dramatic illustration of this principle. Dr. Ary Goldberger is a cardiac specialist at Harvard Medical School who has done much research in the role of complexity in physiologic systems such as the beat-to-beat record of a healthy heart. It shows an irregular, wrinkly appearance – not a smooth, regular tracing. Furthermore, when this tracing is magnified, there is even more wrinkly detail. This complex pattern of irregular fluctuations is a fractal. Surprisingly, if you were to view an equally detailed heart-rate tracing of a patient before cardiac arrest, you would probably not see more chaotic activity, as you might expect, but rather virtual consistency and regularity. Thus, predictable and regular activity can lead to a heart attack; unpredictability and fractal (chaotic-like) variability are associated with health and stability. (Note that this pattern can also be observed in other biological systems: in sleep, chaotic patterns have been shown to produce restful sleep and extreme regularity may indicate a coma; and in muscles, chaos indicates healthy functioning and stability indicates seizure or degenerative disease.)

Of course, the trick in a human CAS lies in gauging the “right” amount of information flow, diversity, connectivity, power differential and anxiety among the agents. Since the predominant metaphors of organizational life are those of a machine and military operation, most organizations today have too little information flow and diversity, and too much power differential. The degree of connectivity and anxiety can go either way. This is a general observation that could of course be different in any specific context. If you are in a CAS, you will have your own mental model about such things, as will the other agents in the system.

Since the detailed behavior of a CAS is fundamentally unpredictable, there is no way to arrive analytically at an answer for what amount of information flow, diversity, connections inside and outside the organization, power differential and anxiety among the agents is proper.

You can have more- or less-correct intuitions, and some sense of general direction, but that’s inherently the best you can do. You’ll just have to try tuning up or down the various factors and reflect on what happens.

Aides
Reflection

Reflection is, therefore, a key skill for anyone in a CAS. Good leaders in a CAS lead not by telling people what to do, but by being open to experimentation, followed by thoughtful and honest reflection on what happens.

All Components of Edgeware Principles Copyright © 2001, Curt
Lindberg, Complexity Management, VHA Inc. Permission to copy for educational
purposes only. All other rights reserved.