[p2p-research] Fwd: Complexity and the Life of Organisations

Thu Jun 11 08:10:13 CEST 2009

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Alison Melvin <alison at triarchypress.com>
Date: Wed, Jun 10, 2009 at 8:17 PM
Subject: Complexity and the Life of Organisations
To: michelsub2004 at gmail.com

<http://www.triarchypress.com>
   June 2009    Dear Michel,

When Stephen Hawking said in 2000 that this would be the ‘century of
complexity’, he meant that Complexity Thinking could resolve some of the
problems caused by simplistic, linear and compartmentalised ways of thinking
about the universe.

The same is just as true of the way we think about and manage organisations.

 [image: Adventures in
Complexity]<http://www.triarchypress.co.uk/pages/book23.htm>Lesley
Kuhn, author of Adventures in
Complexity<http://www.triarchypress.co.uk/pages/book23.htm>,
signals this change by talking not of *organisations* but of the *life of
organisations* and provides an excellent foundation from which to apply
complexity concepts and metaphors to organisations.

*Current management theory*: Though systems thinking has led the move away
from silo thinking and there is less talk of maximising efficiency in
individual business processes, theorists still often see the organisation as
a lifeless structure that can be understood, ordered, planned for and
improved.

*Current management practice*: In spite of the move away from hierarchy and
command and control, people are still defined and confined by their work
routine and their role in an organisation. Though we pay lip service to
workforce diversity, most organisations still stifle the potential for
creative and innovative thinking through overly structured practices and
processes, dictated ‘visions’ or top heavy management.
*
*
*Complexity approach*: Rather than trying to drop anchor in deep waters,
Complexity Thinking creates flexible practices that can adapt rapidly in
response to a change in the environment in which it operates. It focuses on
uncertainty, non-equilibrium and disorder - *the edge of chaos* being the
zone within which there is most potential for success.

*Much of the book is dedicated to complexity in practice* with seven case
studies, from a not-for-profit to a large pharmaceutical company. It is
through their analysis that we are shown how to use this sophisticated and
compelling way of thinking and to evaluate what influences the health of an
organisation and the emergence of future sustainable practice.

*Adventures in Complexity*
<http://www.triarchypress.co.uk/pages/book23.htm>has further guidance
on how to use Complexity -
a list of the type of questions that are useful as a starting point for an
inquiry, and an action list for managers or leaders who want to enhance
organisational opportunities.

*For leaders, managers and everyone who works in or for an organisation*,
here at last is a straightforward and immediately practical way of applying
complexity.

*For academics, researchers and students* who feel they are theorising in a
vacuum, this is a much-needed book to show how complexity theory can be
translated into the workplace.

*Generation Y* are most attuned to complexity thinking

*For systems thinkers* who are still thinking... complexity theory is a
must.

 *Adventures in Complexity *is published this week at £20. But if you order
your copy <http://www.triarchypress.co.uk/pages/book23.htm> now, we have a
launch offer of £16.00. Read more
here.<http://www.triarchypress.co.uk/pages/book23.htm>

 *About Triarchy Press*
*Triarchy Press* is an independent publisher of books and pamphlets on the
life of organisations. <http://www.triarchypress.com/>
 <http://www.triarchypress.com/>
   *"...a thoughtful, innovative and above all practical book about the
implications and applications of complexity science for management. Written
in a refreshingly engaging style, Kuhn's book manages to pack a lot of
useful information in a relatively small book. ...not only a major new
contribution to the literature on management and complexity, but to
management literature as a whole."*
* *
Prof. Alfonso Montuori, Department Chair, Transformative Inquiry, California
Institute of Integral Studies

 *About the Author:*
* *

Lesley Kuhn is Senior Lecturer in the College of Business at the University
of Western Sydney, Australia.

For 14 years before this she worked at the Social Ecology Centre, an
innovative post-graduate oriented transdisciplinary Centre that brought an
integral perspective on the self, nature and society and has helped bring
complexity thinking to philosophical and social inquiry and ethnographic
research.

She is a master of transdisciplinary thinking, with degrees in music,
education and environmental science and a doctorate in philosophy.

 Triarchy Press ~ Station Offices ~ Axminster ~ Devon EX13 5PF ~ UK
*T:* 01297 631456 ~ Intl: +44 1297 631456
alison at triarchypress.com <mail at triarchypress.com> ~ *www.triarchypress.com*

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