Organisations and Chaos

Article by Tim Sillcock

Application of Systems

Systems in organisations are designed to predict outcomes. As many systems exist and function in complex relationships to produce the outcomes of the organisation, these need to be viewed and understood, holistically, as a complex plexus of interactions.

Whilst a system or process may be understood and applied by staff, slight errors in adherence to procedures, or some other internal or external influence, may produce errors that will determine an outcome other than that which the system was designed to predict.

These errors may be caused by people, equipment, environmental conditions or any of many other variables; both with in the organisation and external to it.

When meteorologist, Edward Lorenz, stumbled on the phenomena known, today, as Chaos Theory, he recognised that a slight error in an empirical calculation could produce a significantly different outcome to the expected or predicted result.

Lorenz explained this by suggesting that a butterfly flapping its wings might change the climatic conditions in its immediate atmosphere very slightly, but influence the climate in the butterfly's greater environment, leading to a change in weather pattern. A butterfly that flaps its wings in Colombia might cause rain in Texas! This is known as the butterfly effect.

Organisational behaviour is like a weather pattern. They are both highly complex because of the large number of possible variables that exist within their systems. This makes predicting their outcomes very difficult.

However, organisations are easier to study and consist of internal phenomenon that can be controlled. Whilst they do not have the ability to control external influences, they can determine how they should respond to such stimuli.

The notion of existence in a chaotic environment would presume that the system would not follow a pre-determined direction but would continually react to variable influences that would navigate towards an unpredictable and unforeseeable outcome.

Chaotic systems are unstable as they tend to not resist any outside influences, but will allow the influence to become part of its journey.

An organisation operating in an uncertain and unpredictable environment may benefit from behaving as a chaotic system, in which it becomes unified with its external world, navigating its course in unison with external influences.

A novice paddler kayaking a swift water river will struggle against many influences as they navigate their kayak through the white caps of the rapids; bouncing off rocks, being pushed sideways by currents, dipping into holes and washing bowls. In contrast, a highly experienced paddler will gracefully swift through the rapids, finding harmony with the water, using the currents and influences to direct their kayak along their journey.

The latter uses much less energy, is more graceful, is more likely to succeed, and generally gains as much enjoyment from the journey as from reaching the final destination.

An organisation aligned with its external world will function with much the same grace, success, and enjoyment as an expert paddler; and with efficient utilization of energy and resources.

The determination of the organisation's functional process is governed as a response to the chaos of the greater universe. Therefore, the organisation cannot be static in its processes. Instead it must continually align itself to the world around it.

Many organisations are structured for cause and effect mechanisms of control. Staff are trained in systems so when something happens (cause), then a determined action will be followed (effect). Whilst this system may be appropriate at the front line level of the organisation, at a strategic level staff need to be trained in, and encouraged to practise, a process based on principles of awareness, perception, reasoning and judgement. They need to foster operational agility that is capable of instant response to changes in the organisation's greater environment. They need to embrace the chaos of the global environment and capture new competitive space to remain alive, active and thirsty for knowledge.

Open Systems

If scientific thinking is applied to a chaotic environment, it can be assumed that it will act as a self-organising system and will be capable of working towards a stable state. If the system is a closed system and is un-affected by external influences, it will eventually become stable. However, a closed system will eventually degenerate through entropy; the tendency for all matter and energy in the universe to evolve towards a state of inert uniformity and the inevitable and steady deterioration of a system or social structure.  

An open system will feed from its environment and maintain its identity whilst it grows. A tornado within the weather system is an example of a chaotic system that feeds from its environment and grows into a self-organising open system that has autonomy. However, a tornado will eventually reach a state of equilibrium in which it loses its chaotic structure and dies.

An organisation may function as an open self-organising chaotic system for a time but will also reach a state of equilibrium and become static; unless an external influence continues to feed its chaos. It is a function of the leadership process to stimulate the organisation to interact and search for chaotic influences from its external environment. Such influences will create disequilibrium within the organisation which will drive the process of self-organisation; keeping the organisation alive.

Whilst organisations may naturally work towards a state of order and stabilization, it is beneficial for it to be in a constant state of chaos. If the organisation ever achieves a state of order and stabilization it may act like a closed system and be subjected to the effects of entropy and imminent demise.

Characteristics of Open Organisational Structures are:

The organisation's vision should not be seen as an end point, but rather, a modus operandi for existence. The World cannot be defined in terms of a beginning and an end point, but instead, must be seen as a state of existence.

Therefore, an organisation must describe its Vision in terms of its current state in relation to the current state of its greater world. Whilst this relationship exists in a constant state of commotion, it can be recognised, described and used; a little like the crew of a yacht utilizes the forces of the wind and the currents in the sea to their advantage to sail to their desired destination by applying the rudder, sails and the hull of the yacht to the chaotic forces.

Like a yachtsman who cannot precisely predict their future sailing environment but must constantly evaluate their current state, a business manager must constantly monitor the global environment external to the organisation and make continuous adjustments to the organisations operations to ensure their destination is desirable and fruitful.