LO & the New Sciences LO4742

umerry@shani.net
Mon, 8 Jan 96 13:19:56 PST

One of the problems of joining an existing list is that you do not know if
the subject you are raising has been dealt with before. I do not know if
you have discussed the relevance of various aspects of the New sciences
(Chaos, Complexity, Self-organizaation, Complex Adaptive Systems, Fractals
etc) for understanding the learning organization. I personally would like
an exchange of thinking and ideas on this.

I will give one example that you may possibly have dealt with - the
concept of "the edge of chaos".

Of late, I have written that "Systems on the edge of chaos are stable
enough to receive and keep information, while they are also able to
transmit it. They can do complex computations, they are able to react to
the world, to be both spontaneous in adapting to their environment, and be
alive. They adjust themselves to a point where their computational ability
is maximized. This is also the point where they attain their highest level
of fitness and ability."

"...the edge of chaos is where complex systems are best able to function
adaptively. It is where they get better at evolving and where they have
the highest fitness. The edge of chaos is where complex adaptive systems
show lifelike behavior and can best perform complex computations. This is
where they acquire the basic evolutionary competence of developing
internal models of the environment

The edge of chaos is where complex adaptive systems have the widest range
of behaviors to choose from. This gives them an advantage of being able to
function effectively in a varied and fast changing environment. They have
a rich choice of alternatives they can pick from when dealing with a
turbulent environment."

"The edge of chaos is at the transition phase of coupled systems between
order and chaos. This is the phase, where on the one hand, the systems are
not coupled together too tightly, and on the other hand their coupling is
not too weak."

"... the edge of chaos is where information gets the upper hand over
energy. A system at the edge of chaos gains more control and it also
obtains the possibility that information processing becomes an important
feature of the system's dynamics."

"This is the state where a person or an organization has a large range of
behaviors to choose from in adapting to environmental variety and
turbulence.It is a condition where the systems' components never quite
settle into stability and also do not dissolve into a state of chaos and
turbulence. It is the range where life has sufficient stability to
maintain itself and also the degree of creativity and novelty to deserve
being called life."

"Organizations are moving away from...striving to maintain linear
stability to functioning at the edge of chaos." " Organizations are moving
away from... organizational maintenance learning to inbuilt evolutionary
learning."

"A system designed to balance at the edge of chaos centers its identity
around being a learning changing system. It knows that all
structure-dependent solutions to problems are short-lived, it is oriented
to continuous accelerating rates of inexorable change. It cherishes
variety and diversity. It encourages uniqueness and nonconformity. It is
open to risks and encourages risk taking."

All of the above are quotations from my latest book: COPING WITH
UNCERTAINTY: INSIGHTS FROM THE NEW SCIENCES OF CHAOS, SELF-ORGANIZATION
AND COMPLEXITY. Published by Praeger Pub. 1995.

It is not difficult to see from the above the connection between the edge
of chaos and the learning organizaation. Have you people dealt with this
before?

A few words about myself. I have been an organizational consultant for 27
years and have taught and trained a few generations of consultants. I have
written many, many articles and five books. For the last few years I have
been focusing on the implications of the New Sciences for organizations,
management, human resources, change and development.

--
Dr. Uri Merry
umerry@shani.net