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An Emerging Idea: The “Fractal

Organization”

What is the Fractal Organization?

Fractals are patterns that repeat themselves on different scales
driven by the same (simple) rules.

The term fractal was originated by Benoit Mandelbrot studying

geometric patterns that are self-similar on different scales. The term is
now working its way into business thinking to support discussion of
organizational responses to Complexity and (borderline) chaos.

State of Play

Few discussions of the use of the fractal construct as a metaphor in the
discussion of business system structures are, as yet, truly coherent.
Such discussions are rarely easy to understand as authors seek to

translate abstract mathematical ideas into business terms. Part of the
reason, we believe is that fractalness is being considered as a feature of
an organization; we believe that that is the wrong primary focus. We
believe the focus should be on the context

What are the Rules?

The ‘rules’ in fractal geometry are simple formulae that are endlessly

repeated. The fractal 'rules' that will drive the business context for the
next generation(s) are the phenomena of complexity including
emergence & diffusion through stigmergic action, the resultant
nonlinearity through feedback, upward & downward causation,

connectivity for interaction through networks, co-evolution, and self-
organization.

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