Chaos & Complexity
Storytelling
Organization
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What is Chaos and Complexity? by Mark Hillon
1. What is Chaos? - The first concept comes from Chaos, which is defined as "the irregular, unpredictable behavior of deterministic, non-linear dynamical systems." Chaos is fast replacing bureaucracy as the new science of organizations.
The relevant generalization here is that we live in an uncertain and turbulent environment and, even with massive amounts of available information, it has become increasingly difficult for us to choose appropriate organizational survival behaviors. No one seems to disagree with the assertion that human systems exhibit chaotic behavior. However, management theorists have yet to acknowledge that the deterministic element of chaos can be beneficial in forming viable survival strategies. They have focused almost exclusively on preparing the organization to react quickly to changes in the external environment.
(Jensen: http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~zac/chapt17.htm)
What is Chaos Management?
The translation of Chaos Theory into management practice is, at best, a loose analogy that has been built upon three generalizations of scientific concepts: Chaos, Complexity Theory, and Complex Adaptive Systems. It has always been somewhat problematic to apply a scientific theory - one that was intended to explain natural phenomena - to explain the affairs of human organizational systems. The relatively new science of chaos is one such application that has made inroads into the realm of management and organizational behavior.Summary Point: Chaos has positive and negative features.
"From the dawn of science until just a few years ago the phenomenon of chaos was largely unknown. Now chaos is seen everywhere. Is chaos the exception or the rule?" From Popular Lectures by J. C. Sprott (press here).
2. What is Complexity? The second concept comes from Complexity Theory, which states that "critically interacting components self-organize to form potentially evolving structures exhibiting a hierarchy of emergent system properties."
(Lucas: http://www.calresco.org/sos/sosfaq.htm#1.1)
A system normally has two choices of operational modes: stability or instability. In the stable mode, a disturbance will eventually converge back toward the system’s initial conditions. In the unstable mode, a disturbance will cause a progressive divergence away from initial conditions. Self-organizing systems operate in a third mode - between stability and instability - where optimal system performance can be achieved in a turbulent environment. This transition zone is known as the edge of chaos, "a region of bounded instability" in which there is "unpredictability of specific behavior within a predictable general structure of behavior."
(Rosenhead: http://www.human-nature.com/science-as-culture/rosenhead.html)
The relevant generalization here is that for a human social system to become self-organizing, it must become a learning organization. That is, survival strategies are developed continuously in response to changing environmental conditions. Recognition of rudimentary deterministic environmental patterns allows the organization to move beyond mere survival to the possibility of a thriving existence.
What is the Positive and Negative Side of Chaos?
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