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Last week I spent several hours each day, for four consecutive days, trying to share complex knowledge. I was reminded once again of how much time it takes to share complex (implicit) knowledge. To really share complex knowledge takes a willingness to listen as well as the time and space to do so. complexity Learning Wirearchy I had my understanding of communities of practice, personal knowledge management, leadership, and innovation that I wanted to share. MORE
An interesting article I came across brings up an interesting issue: how do we do complex thinking? The article says that our brains are limited in thinking about complex situations. We can do complex thinking, with the right tools. MORE
As complexity theory has started to get traction I’ve had three concerns. Secondly to distinguish work on complexity in human systems from that based on non-human systems (although again there is much of value). Thirdly to prevent complexity becoming a single guru movement or movements. The post Complexity in Human Systems appeared first on Cognitive Edge. MORE
Outcomes result from the interplay of complex adaptive systems. What’s a person to do when complexity turns our clockwork universe on its head? My colleagues at the Internet Time Alliance agree that we need to embrace complexity , not hide from it. MORE
The distinction between complexity and chaos theory can be problematic depending on who you are talking with, or what you are reading. There are also some mildly worrying differences emerging between its use in the social and natural sciences; an especial concern as complexity provides the basis for a realist and pragmatic account of social systems and a truly trans-disciplinary approach to human understanding. MORE
As our markets and technologies get more complex, we need new models to get work done. However, complex systems are not fully knowable, though they can be partially understood through interaction with them. If companies want to remain competitive in the global market, they need to focus on complex and creative work. Much of complex work is in exception-handling and when exceptions are the rule, rigid rules must become the exception. complexity Wirearchy Work MORE
Only global networks of trust can work on this complex problem. The world is too complex for elites and hierarchies. What is innovation? — it is not so much about having ideas as it is about connecting and nurturing ideas. MORE
Anne Marie McEwan explains its effects, in Why Your Network is Your Life Support System : The concept implies that organisations that fail to distribute responsibility for absorbing complexity will eventually cease to be viable – they will not be resilient against shocks coming at them from their external environment. We both use social technologies to reach out into the complexity and try to make sense of it. With complex problems there is not often a simple correct answer. MORE
Anecdote reports that John Kotter, leadership guru , is accepting that methods like his 8-step process for leading change may not be effective in the face of complexity. In my last post I wrote that in an increasingly complex workplace, many of the old models are no longer useful, referring more specifically to workplace learning. Complexity, driven by global networked communications, is the main factor. complexity InternetTime SocialBusiness MORE
It’s a question of complexity. Complex systems and learning how to work with them cannot be controlled. If you are working in a complex system, you will never be able to know everything. For instance, the environment and communities are complex systems that cannot be controlled, only influenced. This requires cooperation and collaboration between people to understand the complexity. Complexity SocialLearning“Carnegie Mellon’s Robert E. MORE
As we transition from a market to a network economy, complexity will increase due to our hyper-connectedness. Managing in complex adaptive systems means influencing possibilities rather than striving for predictability (good or best practices). Read more » Complexity SocialLearningNo one has the definitive answer any more but we can use the intelligence of our networks to make sense together. MORE
But given the complexity of the changes involved, they would likely take place as a series of incremental, evolutionary steps, not as a rip-and-replace transformation. When dealing with other more recent complex initiatives, - e.g., cloud computing , social business , digital money and payments , - I find myself reflecting back on my experiences with the e-business strategy. Complex Systems Economic Issues Innovation Management and Leadership Technology and Strategy MORE
Five years later, Dave Snowden makes a similar observation, sparked by a KPMG marketing brochure on “cutting through complexity” Dave concludes: If a consultancy firm really wants to help their clients they they should support them in living with complexity, riding its potential, avoiding reductionist approaches, engaging customer and staff in a sensing network. Complex problems require require different thinking. complexity MORE
So in summary systems thinking is about closing the gap to an ideal future state using and focusing on individuals while complexity thinking is about understanding the present, and evolving through collective action to a future state which could not be fully anticipated but which is sustainable and resilient. complexity MORE
How can they most effectively learn the skills required in the complex domain? How can we prepare people to work in complex, and not highly ordered, work environments in which most problems are exceptions from which some emergent solutions can be continuously developed, learned, and shared? If we want to help people deal with complex problems and environments then they need to learn and practice in these. Complexity MORE
Returning yesterday from my first TedX in Cyprus I was chatting with Sonja Blignaut about some upcoming activities and differences between approaches to sense-making and complexity. So its a hard problem, if not the Hard Problem , and it is especially so when you are working in a paradigm shifting area such as complexity theory. Now complexity is uncomfortable to any organisation (which in fact means more or less all organisations) as it challenges several key assumptions. MORE
But part of my fascination with the subject is that I often ask myself similar questions when thinking about the equally mysterious world of highly complex emergent systems, that is, systems where the whole can at times be quite different from the sum of their parts. The reasons meteorologists give forecasts based on probabilities is because, given how complex weather systems are, they in fact don’t have access to all relevant information. MORE
Some 10 years ago now when I first became interested in how complexity science might be used in public administration there was a body of thinking but relatively few practical examples of applications. This has brought attention to approaches informed by complexity science for working with intractable problems as well as a way to square the circle of making localization workable and relevant. So what is applying complexity thinking to public policy really all about? MORE
It favors large companies because of their ability to address complex systemic problems, manage the large-scale ecosystems that solving such problems requires, and bring their solutions to market all round the world. This kind of complex systemic innovation leverages lots of known ideas and makes them work together to help address important problems. But, it is not enough to be large for a company to succeed at complex systemic innovation. MORE
It comes from the 1990’s but is still in use to describe the complex and chaotic world of business, politics, and technology. Complexity. Velocity and agility can be improved at the organizational level with frameworks, such as Niels Pflaeging’s Organize for Complexity approach. ComplexityHave you heard the term VUCA ? Volatility. Uncertainty. Ambiguity. Peter Hinnsen, in The Network Always Wins , describes the antidote to VUCA as VACINE. Velocity. Agility. MORE
It is in this context that we pulled together some of the leading thinkers in the field of complexity to explore where we are from different perspectives. Complex systems are entangled systems; things connect and intertwine in unexpected, non-linear ways across different scales and even across time. The post Reflections on Complexity, Chaos and COVID-19 appeared first on Cognitive Edge. Blogs Knowledge Management Managing Complex Systems Reflections Thinking events MORE
Every one of the major challenges facing us is complex. But our organizations are not designed for complexity. Our education institutions do not teach an understanding of complexity. Our workplace training does not factor in complexity. While not all of our problems are complex, the simpler issues are being dealt with. We need to take what Clay Shirky calls the cognitive surplus , and use it to wrestle with complex problems. Complexity Democracy MORE
“Our most successful clients have cross-flowing knowledge networks to handle the complexity/variety of their marketplace.” “The One Year Club – organizations that buy tools to embrace a new way of working without understanding fit, and finding it really complex. Organizations realize 9 to 18 months in that their tools don’t fit and what they are trying to do is really complex & they need help. MORE
I started talking about the differences that complexity theory makes to design thinking some time ago - In Malmo at the XP conference as I remember it - and have now introduced that material in modified form onto day four of our accreditation programme. I promised to address this yesterday following a presentation on Design Thinking at the conference here in Ohio. MORE
For the moment I want to look at some of the implications for design thinking, reinterpreted through a complexity lens; shifting from a linear process to a non-linear dynamic. A complexity informed theory of design on the other hand wants to prevent the premature convergence on a defined problem that the linear model of Research-Ideate-Prototype implies. In a very important sense, then, from the perspective of material engagement, cognition has no location. MORE
Naturally I have done a lot more thinking since then but the fundamentals remain: you don’t scale a complex system by aggregation or imitation but be decomposition to an optimal level of granularity followed by recombination (possible exadaptive recombination). Complexity is about how things connect far more than what the things are. The post Scaling in complex systems appeared first on Cognitive Edge. MORE
As machine predictions become inexpensive and commonplace, the human judgement that leverages and complements prediction will become more valuable, especially given the increasing complexity of the decisions our institutions are called upon to make. “It’s But, explains McKinsey, our growing organizational complexity has clouded decision making accountability. Complex Systems Economic Issues Management and Leadership Society and Culture Technology and Strategy MORE
I've been using the complex domain model for some time now since I first published it. One of my main aims was to move away from a simple categorisation of methods which is the all too frequent use of Cynefin into a more nuanced and varied understanding of complexity. All of these are valid and in the complex domain model we can of course move in both directions. Now one of the big problems is that most people, even when they understand complexity, start in the centre. MORE
In complex environments, weak hierarchies and strong networks are the best organizing principle. One good example of complexity that we can try to fathom is nature itself. A society’s potential to function well at a given stage, and to evolve to a higher level of complexity, depends on its ability to integrate these inherently contradictory forms into a well-functioning whole. complexity Wirearchy MORE
Last year we looked at complexity in generation, in 2018 we are both expanding the number (from one to three) and focusing in particular areas. The first this year is coming up shortly in Whistler and will focus on creating a complex systems approach to how we handle design and innovation in large organisations, the role of aesthetics and creativity in human systems. The post Complexity, design and aesthetics appeared first on Cognitive Edge. MORE
I listened to John Seely Brown several years ago where he explained there is only one way to understand a complex adaptive system (namely one with people in it): you have to marinate in it. Culture is complex. Communities ComplexityI am in a rural village in France enjoying my last day here before heading home. This week was spent mostly in Paris, running a workshop and meeting with a few people. MORE
Cloud Computing Complex Systems Economic Issues Education and Talent Innovation Management and Leadership Services Innovation Smart Systems Society and Culture Technology and Strategy By now, most will agree that cloud computing is a major transformational force in the world of IT. But, cloud has not the easiest concept to grasp. Not that long ago, even people who agreed that something big and profound was going on, were not totally quite sure what it was they were excited about. MORE
” Well I think Niels has answered much of that question himself, in his recent book Organize for Complexity. We call this “disciplined practice” Fads like business analytics, knowledge management, and big data will never make organizations fit for complexity. So what does Organize for Complexity cover? Complex markets require decentralization, combined with market-like coordination. Books complexity ConnectedEnterprise Wirearchy MORE
The five principles are: Assume complexity and only control process choices, not the outcome. ComplexityThe premise of A Useful Idea is that improvisation acting principles can help with the creation of something new, and perhaps innovative. Nourish ‘ensemble’ to let go of safety and dive in with openness [ improv activities help]. Design skillful rehearsals & adaptive performances [ perpetual beta ]. Tap into source [ half-baked ideas ]. MORE
In thinking about this question over the last few years, I started to notice that a number of subtle, non-intuitive concepts that I learned many years ago as a physics student seem to apply to the world of big data and information-based predictions in highly complex systems. So is the world of highly complex systems , especially those systems whose components and interrelationships are themselves quite complex, as is the case with systems biology and evolution. . MORE
Two technologies — machine learning , and the internet — are changing our understanding of the world by showing that we really cannot understand large scale complexity. “We don’t use these technologies because they are huge, connected, and complex. Sensemaking is becoming a critical skill in our complex world. Working in complexity requires constant sensemaking, connecting outside the organization with the work being done inside. Complexity MORE
In my post on complexity and learning, I said that work in networks requires different skills than in hierarchies. Read more » Complexity ConnectedEnterprise SocialLearningCoordination is making sure things get done effectively and efficiently. Most organizations do this well. Collaboration is working together for a common objective, usually directed through someone in authority. This is still the focus of most. MORE
The subject was Navigating Complexity , its a title I've used before and its much better than managing complexity or heaven help be reducing complexity both of which have been suggested and rejected in the past. Best wishes for 2011. MORE
A good conversation in Moscow this morning with David Anderson around and about the issue of managing a complex system and as is the way with discussion a half formed idea or two coalesced. I've been teaching how to intervene in a complex system for years, developing and then using the ABIDE perspective question for example. Underneath this of course we have some principles, namely that you cannot determine the outcome in a complex system. MORE
That was the first time I used the term anthro-complexity in writing and I stated that it was the front runner to name a field. Previously I had used social and cognitive complexity but the former had been used elsewhere and the latter was not complete enough. MORE
The pioneering work of Prigogine and others which gives us complexity theory happens in the middle of that century. It was a characteristic of that period of development that the complexity of system would be resolved by engineering design, often bottom up, or definition of specific outcomes. I didn’t know it at the time but that was the key Cynefin distinction between complex and complicated. The post Systems thinking & complexity appeared first on Cognitive Edge. MORE
It is a suite of capabilities that foster an organizational culture that is constantly learning in order to understand and engage the complex environment in which it lives. The human brain is the best interface for complexity. Complexity needs simple, adaptive structures. Complexity ConnectedEnterprise DemocracyWhat is the optimal digital transformation technology for a networked organization? MORE
Thinking of complex adaptive systems as merely complicated entities that can be regulated like machines can lead to disaster, as Niall Ferguson shows in his recent book. Human systems are complex. Today’s large, complicated organizations are now facing complex business environments that require agility in simultaneously learning and working. A schematic history of human civilization reflects a growing complexity of the collective behavior of human organizations. MORE
In part that is the question of privilege, in part a failure to really on board the implications of complexity (and I speak here as some who has sinned and may well still be in a state of sin in this regard). In today’s post I want to start the examination of who/what should and who/what can have agency in creating change in the complex fractal systems which comprise our various organisations, polities and increasing poleis that comprise our world. MORE
Complexity Related Topics Dave Snowden
SEPTEMBER 11, 2020
That was the first time I used the term anthro-complexity in writing and I stated that it was the front runner to name a field. Previously I had used social and cognitive complexity but the former had been used elsewhere and the latter was not complete enough.
Dave Snowden
AUGUST 19, 2019
As complexity theory has started to get traction I’ve had three concerns. Secondly to distinguish work on complexity in human systems from that based on non-human systems (although again there is much of value). Thirdly to prevent complexity becoming a single guru movement or movements. The post Complexity in Human Systems appeared first on Cognitive Edge.
Clark Quinn
AUGUST 21, 2018
An interesting article I came across brings up an interesting issue: how do we do complex thinking? The article says that our brains are limited in thinking about complex situations. We can do complex thinking, with the right tools.
Dave Snowden
APRIL 8, 2020
It is in this context that we pulled together some of the leading thinkers in the field of complexity to explore where we are from different perspectives. Complex systems are entangled systems; things connect and intertwine in unexpected, non-linear ways across different scales and even across time. The post Reflections on Complexity, Chaos and COVID-19 appeared first on Cognitive Edge. Blogs Knowledge Management Managing Complex Systems Reflections Thinking events
Harold Jarche
APRIL 25, 2019
Two technologies — machine learning , and the internet — are changing our understanding of the world by showing that we really cannot understand large scale complexity. “We don’t use these technologies because they are huge, connected, and complex. Sensemaking is becoming a critical skill in our complex world. Working in complexity requires constant sensemaking, connecting outside the organization with the work being done inside. Complexity
Dave Snowden
JUNE 21, 2017
The pioneering work of Prigogine and others which gives us complexity theory happens in the middle of that century. It was a characteristic of that period of development that the complexity of system would be resolved by engineering design, often bottom up, or definition of specific outcomes. I didn’t know it at the time but that was the key Cynefin distinction between complex and complicated. The post Systems thinking & complexity appeared first on Cognitive Edge.
Harold Jarche
DECEMBER 8, 2019
Only global networks of trust can work on this complex problem. The world is too complex for elites and hierarchies. What is innovation? — it is not so much about having ideas as it is about connecting and nurturing ideas.
Harold Jarche
JANUARY 8, 2014
Thinking of complex adaptive systems as merely complicated entities that can be regulated like machines can lead to disaster, as Niall Ferguson shows in his recent book. Human systems are complex. Today’s large, complicated organizations are now facing complex business environments that require agility in simultaneously learning and working. A schematic history of human civilization reflects a growing complexity of the collective behavior of human organizations.
Dave Snowden
OCTOBER 30, 2016
In part that is the question of privilege, in part a failure to really on board the implications of complexity (and I speak here as some who has sinned and may well still be in a state of sin in this regard). In today’s post I want to start the examination of who/what should and who/what can have agency in creating change in the complex fractal systems which comprise our various organisations, polities and increasing poleis that comprise our world.
Dave Snowden
JUNE 8, 2018
Last year we looked at complexity in generation, in 2018 we are both expanding the number (from one to three) and focusing in particular areas. The first this year is coming up shortly in Whistler and will focus on creating a complex systems approach to how we handle design and innovation in large organisations, the role of aesthetics and creativity in human systems. The post Complexity, design and aesthetics appeared first on Cognitive Edge.
Harold Jarche
FEBRUARY 12, 2014
Last week I spent several hours each day, for four consecutive days, trying to share complex knowledge. I was reminded once again of how much time it takes to share complex (implicit) knowledge. To really share complex knowledge takes a willingness to listen as well as the time and space to do so. complexity Learning Wirearchy I had my understanding of communities of practice, personal knowledge management, leadership, and innovation that I wanted to share.
Irving Wladawsky-Berger
JULY 8, 2019
As machine predictions become inexpensive and commonplace, the human judgement that leverages and complements prediction will become more valuable, especially given the increasing complexity of the decisions our institutions are called upon to make. “It’s But, explains McKinsey, our growing organizational complexity has clouded decision making accountability. Complex Systems Economic Issues Management and Leadership Society and Culture Technology and Strategy
Harold Jarche
NOVEMBER 29, 2017
How can they most effectively learn the skills required in the complex domain? How can we prepare people to work in complex, and not highly ordered, work environments in which most problems are exceptions from which some emergent solutions can be continuously developed, learned, and shared? If we want to help people deal with complex problems and environments then they need to learn and practice in these. Complexity
Dave Snowden
DECEMBER 14, 2014
The distinction between complexity and chaos theory can be problematic depending on who you are talking with, or what you are reading. There are also some mildly worrying differences emerging between its use in the social and natural sciences; an especial concern as complexity provides the basis for a realist and pragmatic account of social systems and a truly trans-disciplinary approach to human understanding.
Dave Snowden
NOVEMBER 13, 2017
Returning yesterday from my first TedX in Cyprus I was chatting with Sonja Blignaut about some upcoming activities and differences between approaches to sense-making and complexity. So its a hard problem, if not the Hard Problem , and it is especially so when you are working in a paradigm shifting area such as complexity theory. Now complexity is uncomfortable to any organisation (which in fact means more or less all organisations) as it challenges several key assumptions.
Harold Jarche
JULY 31, 2015
“Our most successful clients have cross-flowing knowledge networks to handle the complexity/variety of their marketplace.” “The One Year Club – organizations that buy tools to embrace a new way of working without understanding fit, and finding it really complex. Organizations realize 9 to 18 months in that their tools don’t fit and what they are trying to do is really complex & they need help.
Harold Jarche
APRIL 11, 2016
As we transition from a market to a network economy, complexity will increase due to our hyper-connectedness. Managing in complex adaptive systems means influencing possibilities rather than striving for predictability (good or best practices). Read more » Complexity SocialLearningNo one has the definitive answer any more but we can use the intelligence of our networks to make sense together.
Harold Jarche
MAY 1, 2014
” Well I think Niels has answered much of that question himself, in his recent book Organize for Complexity. We call this “disciplined practice” Fads like business analytics, knowledge management, and big data will never make organizations fit for complexity. So what does Organize for Complexity cover? Complex markets require decentralization, combined with market-like coordination. Books complexity ConnectedEnterprise Wirearchy
Harold Jarche
FEBRUARY 18, 2018
I listened to John Seely Brown several years ago where he explained there is only one way to understand a complex adaptive system (namely one with people in it): you have to marinate in it. Culture is complex. Communities ComplexityI am in a rural village in France enjoying my last day here before heading home. This week was spent mostly in Paris, running a workshop and meeting with a few people.
Harold Jarche
APRIL 19, 2016
In my post on complexity and learning, I said that work in networks requires different skills than in hierarchies. Read more » Complexity ConnectedEnterprise SocialLearningCoordination is making sure things get done effectively and efficiently. Most organizations do this well. Collaboration is working together for a common objective, usually directed through someone in authority. This is still the focus of most.
Dave Snowden
DECEMBER 31, 2010
The subject was Navigating Complexity , its a title I've used before and its much better than managing complexity or heaven help be reducing complexity both of which have been suggested and rejected in the past. Best wishes for 2011.
Dave Snowden
APRIL 16, 2013
I've been using the complex domain model for some time now since I first published it. One of my main aims was to move away from a simple categorisation of methods which is the all too frequent use of Cynefin into a more nuanced and varied understanding of complexity. All of these are valid and in the complex domain model we can of course move in both directions. Now one of the big problems is that most people, even when they understand complexity, start in the centre.
Irving Wladawsky-Berger
MARCH 24, 2015
But part of my fascination with the subject is that I often ask myself similar questions when thinking about the equally mysterious world of highly complex emergent systems, that is, systems where the whole can at times be quite different from the sum of their parts. The reasons meteorologists give forecasts based on probabilities is because, given how complex weather systems are, they in fact don’t have access to all relevant information.
Harold Jarche
APRIL 27, 2015
Every one of the major challenges facing us is complex. But our organizations are not designed for complexity. Our education institutions do not teach an understanding of complexity. Our workplace training does not factor in complexity. While not all of our problems are complex, the simpler issues are being dealt with. We need to take what Clay Shirky calls the cognitive surplus , and use it to wrestle with complex problems. Complexity Democracy
Dave Snowden
AUGUST 31, 2014
Some 10 years ago now when I first became interested in how complexity science might be used in public administration there was a body of thinking but relatively few practical examples of applications. This has brought attention to approaches informed by complexity science for working with intractable problems as well as a way to square the circle of making localization workable and relevant. So what is applying complexity thinking to public policy really all about?
Dave Snowden
OCTOBER 5, 2014
A good conversation in Moscow this morning with David Anderson around and about the issue of managing a complex system and as is the way with discussion a half formed idea or two coalesced. I've been teaching how to intervene in a complex system for years, developing and then using the ABIDE perspective question for example. Underneath this of course we have some principles, namely that you cannot determine the outcome in a complex system.
Harold Jarche
MAY 24, 2016
The five principles are: Assume complexity and only control process choices, not the outcome. ComplexityThe premise of A Useful Idea is that improvisation acting principles can help with the creation of something new, and perhaps innovative. Nourish ‘ensemble’ to let go of safety and dive in with openness [ improv activities help]. Design skillful rehearsals & adaptive performances [ perpetual beta ]. Tap into source [ half-baked ideas ].
Harold Jarche
JUNE 2, 2012
So in summary systems thinking is about closing the gap to an ideal future state using and focusing on individuals while complexity thinking is about understanding the present, and evolving through collective action to a future state which could not be fully anticipated but which is sustainable and resilient. complexity
Harold Jarche
NOVEMBER 26, 2012
Anecdote reports that John Kotter, leadership guru , is accepting that methods like his 8-step process for leading change may not be effective in the face of complexity. In my last post I wrote that in an increasingly complex workplace, many of the old models are no longer useful, referring more specifically to workplace learning. Complexity, driven by global networked communications, is the main factor. complexity InternetTime SocialBusiness
Harold Jarche
FEBRUARY 8, 2017
It comes from the 1990’s but is still in use to describe the complex and chaotic world of business, politics, and technology. Complexity. Velocity and agility can be improved at the organizational level with frameworks, such as Niels Pflaeging’s Organize for Complexity approach. ComplexityHave you heard the term VUCA ? Volatility. Uncertainty. Ambiguity. Peter Hinnsen, in The Network Always Wins , describes the antidote to VUCA as VACINE. Velocity. Agility.
Harold Jarche
MAY 28, 2012
In complex environments, weak hierarchies and strong networks are the best organizing principle. One good example of complexity that we can try to fathom is nature itself. A society’s potential to function well at a given stage, and to evolve to a higher level of complexity, depends on its ability to integrate these inherently contradictory forms into a well-functioning whole. complexity Wirearchy
Harold Jarche
JANUARY 24, 2013
As our markets and technologies get more complex, we need new models to get work done. However, complex systems are not fully knowable, though they can be partially understood through interaction with them. If companies want to remain competitive in the global market, they need to focus on complex and creative work. Much of complex work is in exception-handling and when exceptions are the rule, rigid rules must become the exception. complexity Wirearchy Work
Jay Cross
AUGUST 12, 2010
Outcomes result from the interplay of complex adaptive systems. What’s a person to do when complexity turns our clockwork universe on its head? My colleagues at the Internet Time Alliance agree that we need to embrace complexity , not hide from it.
Harold Jarche
MARCH 20, 2016
It’s a question of complexity. Complex systems and learning how to work with them cannot be controlled. If you are working in a complex system, you will never be able to know everything. For instance, the environment and communities are complex systems that cannot be controlled, only influenced. This requires cooperation and collaboration between people to understand the complexity. Complexity SocialLearning“Carnegie Mellon’s Robert E.
Harold Jarche
MAY 6, 2015
It is a suite of capabilities that foster an organizational culture that is constantly learning in order to understand and engage the complex environment in which it lives. The human brain is the best interface for complexity. Complexity needs simple, adaptive structures. Complexity ConnectedEnterprise DemocracyWhat is the optimal digital transformation technology for a networked organization?
Irving Wladawsky-Berger
JUNE 25, 2014
Cloud Computing Complex Systems Economic Issues Education and Talent Innovation Management and Leadership Services Innovation Smart Systems Society and Culture Technology and Strategy By now, most will agree that cloud computing is a major transformational force in the world of IT. But, cloud has not the easiest concept to grasp. Not that long ago, even people who agreed that something big and profound was going on, were not totally quite sure what it was they were excited about.
Dave Snowden
OCTOBER 3, 2013
I started talking about the differences that complexity theory makes to design thinking some time ago - In Malmo at the XP conference as I remember it - and have now introduced that material in modified form onto day four of our accreditation programme. I promised to address this yesterday following a presentation on Design Thinking at the conference here in Ohio.
Harold Jarche
MARCH 28, 2013
Five years later, Dave Snowden makes a similar observation, sparked by a KPMG marketing brochure on “cutting through complexity” Dave concludes: If a consultancy firm really wants to help their clients they they should support them in living with complexity, riding its potential, avoiding reductionist approaches, engaging customer and staff in a sensing network. Complex problems require require different thinking. complexity
Irving Wladawsky-Berger
DECEMBER 7, 2012
In thinking about this question over the last few years, I started to notice that a number of subtle, non-intuitive concepts that I learned many years ago as a physics student seem to apply to the world of big data and information-based predictions in highly complex systems. So is the world of highly complex systems , especially those systems whose components and interrelationships are themselves quite complex, as is the case with systems biology and evolution. .
Harold Jarche
MARCH 24, 2014
Anne Marie McEwan explains its effects, in Why Your Network is Your Life Support System : The concept implies that organisations that fail to distribute responsibility for absorbing complexity will eventually cease to be viable – they will not be resilient against shocks coming at them from their external environment. We both use social technologies to reach out into the complexity and try to make sense of it. With complex problems there is not often a simple correct answer.
Irving Wladawsky-Berger
JANUARY 2, 2012
It favors large companies because of their ability to address complex systemic problems, manage the large-scale ecosystems that solving such problems requires, and bring their solutions to market all round the world. This kind of complex systemic innovation leverages lots of known ideas and makes them work together to help address important problems. But, it is not enough to be large for a company to succeed at complex systemic innovation.
Dave Snowden
OCTOBER 4, 2013
For the moment I want to look at some of the implications for design thinking, reinterpreted through a complexity lens; shifting from a linear process to a non-linear dynamic. A complexity informed theory of design on the other hand wants to prevent the premature convergence on a defined problem that the linear model of Research-Ideate-Prototype implies. In a very important sense, then, from the perspective of material engagement, cognition has no location.
Irving Wladawsky-Berger
FEBRUARY 6, 2013
But given the complexity of the changes involved, they would likely take place as a series of incremental, evolutionary steps, not as a rip-and-replace transformation. When dealing with other more recent complex initiatives, - e.g., cloud computing , social business , digital money and payments , - I find myself reflecting back on my experiences with the e-business strategy. Complex Systems Economic Issues Innovation Management and Leadership Technology and Strategy
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