My last post was about Paul Cilliers’s 7 characteristics of complex systems. In this post I want to explore 7 of the implications of complexity that he thought was important for those working in and on organisations (his original text is in italics). 1.Since the nature of a complex organization is determined by the interaction … Continue reading Seven implications of complexity for organisations
A client asked me to write down some thoughts about a complexity based approach to culture. I thought I’d go ahead and publish some of my initial thoughts here as well. (I’ve woven together my own ideas with those of Dave Snowden & Dr Chene Swart – so much credit to them!) Thinking about culture from a … Continue reading What I believe to be true about organisational culture
I was part of a “real play” scenario (you play yourself i.e. how would you respond in the scenario, vs playing a role) the other day, to demonstrate a wonderful coaching modality called ORSC. The scenario we were playing out was one of a large and established insurer who had aquired a small, agile and innovative … Continue reading Reflections on the ‘edginess’ of change
I first encountered Dave Snowden and Cynefin back in 2003 when we were still working for IBM. I felt an immediate resonance when I encountered the Cynefin Centre’s Complexity and Narrative based consulting methods as I never felt comfortable with the one-size-fits-all recipe-based consulting approaches I’d had to apply. The acknowledgement of the importance of … Continue reading Cynefin Organising Principle 1: Distinguishing between sense-making and categorisation
