Category Archives: Organisational forms

Why are ‘unintended consequences’ almost inevitable?

We so often hear politicians, managers and those in positions of authority wailing about the ‘unintended consequences’ of their actions – or worse, excusing damaging outcomes with a shrug of the shoulders and saying “But they were unintended consequences …” … Continue reading

Posted in Appropriateness, Change, Contextual complexity, Experienced complexity, Influence, Natural complexity, Opportunities, Organisational forms, Practice, Prediction, Probability, Purposeful, Risk, Transformation, Transition, Unintended consequences | 2 Comments

Possibility, Risk Asessments and dealing with Possible Futures

There is a fundamental flaw in most risk assessments – they are based on past data. That means that they are useless in the face of crises or deep uncertainty, in ambiguous situation or when faced with so-called ‘zero-day’ events. … Continue reading

Posted in Adaptation, Appropriateness, Change, Complexity-worthiness, Organisational forms, Possibilities, Prediction, Probability, Risk, Transformation, Transition | Leave a comment

Transitioning to Adaptive, Forward-looking Ways-of-Working

In previous posts we talked about the different Aspects of adaptation and what this means for the learning that organisations, communities or individuals might have to do. What follows from this is an obvious question – how do you go … Continue reading

Posted in Adaptation, Agility, Appropriateness, Change, Influence, Learning, Opportunities, Organisational forms, Possibilities, Practice, Purposeful | 3 Comments

Organisation forms and Contextual Complexities

‘Contextual complexity’ provides an ‘objective’ perspective (as far as it can be) on the realities of the context and is the basis of exposing givens, realities and unspoken assumptions. When practitioners wish to establish their Contextual complexity (by undertaking ‘Symptom … Continue reading

Posted in Appropriateness, Complexity-worthiness, Experienced complexity, Federation, Interoperability, Organisational forms, Prediction, Relationships, System of systems, Transformation, Transition | 2 Comments

Complexity-Worthiness in a nutshell

Having ‘Complexity-worthiness’ means being able to access, deploy and employ capabilities which are appropriately matched to the nature of things being worked with – and being able to adapt them dynamically as circumstances change. Whether or not you use the … Continue reading

Posted in Adaptation, Appropriateness, Change, Complexity Demystified, Complexity-worthiness, Contextual complexity, Experienced complexity, Influence, Organisational forms, Practice, Reflection, Transformation, Transition | Leave a comment