New Science: Systems Thinking, Chaos & Complexity

The Newtonian Universe

• "Each of us lives and works / has dealings with organisations designed from Newtonian images of the universe. But the science has changed. We need to ground our work in the science of our times. We need to stop seeking after the universe of the Seventeenth Century and begin to explore what became known to us in the Twentieth Century.“ Wheatley

• Newton says that all the bodies of the universe are analogous to "tinker toy" creations suspended in an otherwise empty universe. The new science, the science of the quantum, says otherwise.

The Newtonian Universe 2…

• Newtonian laws of physics are completely deterministic: they assume that, at least theoretically, precise measurements are possible, and that more precise measurement of any condition will yield more precise predictions about past or future conditions.

• Reductionism

General Systems Theory 1…

• Ludwig Von Bertalanffy’s definition of a system: 'a set of units with relationships among them.'

• “set" implies that the units or elements contain similar characteristics and that each unit or element is controlled, influenced, or dependent upon the state of other units.

• Open systems exchange matter or information with the environment.

• Closed systems have clear boundaries prohibiting exchange of energy or information - isolated from their environment.

• The essential nature of matter lies not in objects, but in interconnections

General Systems Theory 2…

• A system is a set of units that connect to form a whole

• The whole system functions because of interdependence of its parts

• Systems have input, output, control, and feedback processes

• Living systems are more complex than mechanical systems

General Systems Theory 3…

• Every living organism is essentially an open system. It maintains itself in a continuous inflow and outflow, a building up and breaking down of components

• This is the very essence of that fundamental phenomenon of life, which is called metabolism, the chemical processes within living cells.

General Systems Theory 4…

• It is useful then, to think of people, corporations, organisations, groups, families, interpersonal relationships and computer-based information systems as all being open, living systems.

• A system comprises interrelated components related by flows of energy, material, or information.

• Cooling system, Information System, Immune System etc..

General Systems Theory 5…

• Heirarchies (systems within systems)

• Boundaries (define system by drawing boundaries)

• Dynamic (Change over time and internal relationships change as well)

• Synergistic (the whole > sum of parts)

• Feedback & Control (homeostasis)

• Autopoesis (self regulating)

• Equifinality (same goal achieved via different paths)

• Entropy (measure of disorder)

Life

Life: a property of improbable complexity possessed by an entity that works to keep itself out of equilibrium with its environment.

R. Dawkins (1986)

Characteristics of Life 1…

• All Living things • are organized• work together to

create increasingly higher levels of complexity

• metabolize• maintain internal

environment

• grow

• respond

• reproduce

• evolve

Characteristics of Life 2…

Form Process

Structure

Characteristics of life 3…

• Living systems learn constantly (are adaptive)

• Living systems are self-organizing

• Life is systems-thinking

• Living systems are webbed with feedback (reciprocal modification)

• Living systems are interconnected

• Living systems are self-referential

• Living systems are autopoetic (self regulating)

Laws of Thermodynamics

• First Law: Total energy in the universe is constant. (Energy can neither be created nor destroyed.)

• Second Law: Total entropy (randomness) in the universe is increasing.

• You can’t win: You can only break even.

• You can’t even break even.

Organisms vs. Machines

• Open versus closed

• Dynamic versus static

• Fluid versus bounded

• Adaptive versus rigid

• Complex versus simple

• Quantum versus Newtonian

• Non-linear versus linear

• Organic versus mechanistic

• Interrelationships versus objects

• Chaotic pendulum versus clock

Question

• How can you hold a hundred tons of water in the air with no visible means of support?

You build a cloud

Chaos Theory 1…

• A name given to recent wide-ranging attempts to uncover the statistical regularity hidden in processes that otherwise appear random, such as turbulence in fluids, weather patterns, predator-prey cycles, the spread of disease, and even the onset of war. Systems described as "chaotic" are extremely susceptible to changes in initial conditions. As a result, small uncertainties in measurement are magnified over time, making chaotic systems predictable in principle but unpredictable in practice.

• The butterfly effect

Chaos Theory 2…

• Chaos refers to an apparent lack of order in a system that nevertheless obeys particular laws or rules

• Systems - no matter how complex - rely upon an underlying order, and that very simple or small systems and events can cause very complex behaviors or events

Chaos & Complexity

• Human organizations operate from several core beliefs:• The universe is living, creative, and continually

experimenting. Life’s natural tendency is to organize. Life is self-organizing. Life is always an act of creating an identity. People are intelligent, creative, adaptive, self-organizing, and meaning-seeking. Organizations are living systems, with these same attributes.

Systems & Chaos Theory

• Emphasise the interconnectedness of everything

• Connectedness generates order from disorder

Quantum Universe 1….

• Quantum theory at its essence says that our make-up is of a more connected nature.

• There are fields of energy flooding the entire universe. These fields, as Wheatley says, are responsible for "action-at-a-distance." Scientists now believe that these fields of energy contain all the information that has ever existed, exists now, or will ever exist in the future.

• This data is available and influences our lives daily. We are virtually "always online" to God, nature, and the universe.

Quantum Universe 2…

• At the sub-atomic level of the universe, and, therefore, at the very core of human make-up, the physical nature of the universe is a dance of energy.

• We are made up of the same light and energy as the electro-magnetic fields that permeate space and all of creation. Therefore, it stands to reason that, as a part of this celestial dance, we can have access to nature's wealth of information, and we can be influenced by it.

• If we can be influenced by this vast database of energy and knowledge, can we tap into this cosmic database and perhaps even influence it as well?

The Vision of Leadership

• What does nature, the cosmos and the untapped capabilities of people mean to organizational vision? We must include some of these doctrines:

• Equilibrium is death to the quantum organization. Think about it: if human interaction and dialogue are critical fuel to the new organization, a little creative chaos will continue to drive human creativity.

Doctrines 1…

• The whole really is greater than the sum of the parts.

• Human dialogue is critical to creativity. When two ideas come together that never met before, they lead to or create a new third idea.

• As we are all connected to the "cosmic database," it stands to reason that we must organize in a fashion that allows us to tap into this vast array of data.

Doctrines 2…

• Complex systems are best managed from the bottom up. Today's top-down command and control management styles are complicated, inefficient, and problematic.

• We must manage to recognize the tremendous individual human potential in the workplace. There must be a place at the corporate table for all employees, regardless of physical characteristics or role or position in the corporate hierarchy.

The Vision

• Our leadership mission is to create a setting in which human beings can flourish and are valued and recognized as the key to success. We will view employees as holistic versatile partners in the creation of enterprise.

Characteristics of Successful Organisations

• Self-organizing or self-renewing

• Adaptive

• Flexible to internal and external change

• Feedback loops• reflection, self-awareness, information

• Globally stable with local fluctuations

• Open system

• Self-referential

Learning Organisations

• Respond to environmental changes

• Tolerate stress

• Compete effectively

• Exploit new niches

• Take risks

• Develop symbiotic relationships

• Evolve or perish?

Organisational Change

• When system is far from equilibrium, creative individual can have a huge impact

• amplification of feedback loop

• presence of lone fluctuation gets amplified

Organisations = Self Organising Systems 1…

• Portfolio of skills--not portfolio of business units

• Many levels of autonomy

• Need strong competency, identity, and vision

• Strong frame of reference (Self-referent)

• Capacity for spontaneously emerging structures that best fit present need

• Strong relationship to environment - as matures, more efficient, more adaptive

Organisations = Self Organising Systems 2…

• Co-evolution with environment: establishes basic structure facilitates insulation that protects system from constant, reactive changes

• Chaos forces organization to seek new points of view

• Organizations and their environments are evolving simultaneously toward better fitness for each other.

• Flexible response to changes

Transformational Leadership

• Organizational beliefs (genetic code)• Feedback loop: reciprocal modification• Guiding principles, shared vision• Straddle both continuity and discontinuity• Adaptable• Aware of environment• Reflective • Self-transcendent• Adhocracy

Transformational Leadership 2…

• Entreprenurial• Visionary• Build sustainable niche in emergent

economic / political systems• The Leader’s task is to communicate shared

values and guiding principles, keep them in the forefront, and allow individuals in the system random, chaotic-looking meanderings. (Wheatley, p. 133)

Conclusion - Interconnectedness

“...Whatever befalls the earth,befalls the sons and daughters of the earth.Man did not weave the web of life;he is merely a strand in it.Whatever he does to the web,he does to himself”

F. Capra, “The Web of Life”, 1996.