Page 55 - Chapter One

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Why it is Time Now for The Management Shift

as a result of these actions. A complex system encompasses the current
system and factors (such as agents’ knowledge, skills, goals and motiva-
tion) that will cause the system to adapt and transform. Management is
about transforming and adapting; it has to deal with dynamic capabilities
reflected in changing external environments, technology, processes and
people. This implies that complexity, systems thinking and management
are closely interrelated. Culture, creativity and productivity emerge from
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employee’s interaction, co- evolution and self- organization. I will discuss
some specific implications for leadership style that arise from the science
of complexity in the next chapter.

Organizational fitness is related to an organization’s ability to adapt,
thrive and survive, and management’s responsibility is to help it do so.
Complexity principles are highly applicable to business. Organizations in
equilibrium are not responsive to changes. When faced with threat or
extraordinary opportunity, organizations tend to move towards the edge
of chaos, which evokes higher levels of experimentation and innovation.

In these circumstances, components of organizations self- organize and
new forms emerge from the interaction of individual components. If
properly employed, these principles allow organizations to revitalize and
thrive. Complex systems are not compatible with prediction; they are
about action, experimentation, reflection and learning.

Putting the new management paradigm into action

Putting The Management Shift into action means that adaptive organi-
zations are managed as living organisms, with non- linearity, informal

networks, and interactions embedded in processes. Power and decision-
making are distributed; responsibility is delegated, rather than tasks; cul-
ture is based on care, purpose, connection and trust, and communication
is good in all directions.

For a number of years, I have been researching and comparing traditional
and emerging management approaches. Table 1.4 shows a comparison
between the two, compiled from many published sources, personal insights,
my lecture notes and conversations with academics and practitioners over