Explore the New Science of Complexity

Poll: What Television Program Does Your Company Most Closely Resemble?

Now that the fourth of July holiday ending is bringing many of you back to work, take a minute to vote in my poll.

Birth of the Chaordic Age

Most organizations are victims of linear thinking. And, the truth is, organizational behavior is a lot more chaotic than that. I've been thinking a lot about chaos - not as in massive disorder, but as described in the new science of complexity. This thinking is a leap for me, as organizations, in my experience, usually act as if C always follows A and B. And, this thinking causes problems for them because it is not how the world actually appears to work.

In my consulting, as an example, I find that every organization manages massive change differently and with varying degrees of success. One organization is resilient and capable of successfully managing change. Another flounders, even when circumstances, including competitive challenges, are similar.

"Our current forms of organization are almost universally based on compelled behavior — on tyranny, for that is what compelled behavior is, no matter how benign it may appear or how carefully disguised and exercised. The organization of the future will be the embodiment of community based on shared purpose calling to the higher aspirations of people," states Dee Hock in the prologue to his landmark book. Learn more and see my book review: Birth of the Chaordic Age.