THE EXYSTENCE COMPLEXITY WORKSHOP AT THE LSE

Video  

21 May 2003

Questions

Professor Eve Mitleton-Kelly, Director, Complexity Group, LSE

1.How can complexity science and network analysis be used to generate scenarios for development of a global knowledge society? (question posed by the European Commission and addressed by a workshop)
2. What are the conditions (social, cultural, technical within a political and economic context) that facilitate renewal, co-evolution and sustainability of organisations?

Urooj Amjad, Research Officer, LSE Complexity Group

How can complexity help illuminate the concept of roles in organisations & dynamic role processes.

Ruben Bauer, Visiting Researcher, LSE Complexity Group

How could we better assess the quality of human interactions within self organizing social arrangements?

Laura Birkinshaw, Consultant, Uncommon Practice

How can Complexity help organisations to understand and build their innate innovation capabilities?

Eduardo Castellano, Visiting Researcher, LSE Complexity Group 

Exploration v. exploitation dilemma in terms of knowledge and innovation re. strengths of intra-and inter-network ties.

Didier Clement, Management Consultant, DCmc

If behaviour of complex adaptive systems is unpredictable what is the point of predictive models?
Re hierarchies: not either/or- moving to complex hierarchies which are a hybrid (elements of hierarchy plus element of complexity)
What aspects of each are important?
Be careful of methodology we are using.

Peter Dick, Department of Health,  

Can complexity help with diffusion of ideas , innovation atc. Through a system (instead of isolated islands) 
Can complexity help with accountability, given multiple levels/ loci of decision making? Sensitivity and robustness of the system- how can we understand the robustness of the system we're operating (NHS)
How do you exploit learning
Staff , Money , etc. , } how these different interacting systems work together
How can you measure (one measure, lots of measures) of overall performance of a CAS? (NHS) What sort of measures are appropriate?

Venika Kingsland, DEFRA, Department for Environment , Food and Rural Affairs 

Could complexity help us to find a model to help assess the impact of the aggregate of different policies on the customer (in context of huge prog. of change within DEFRA)

Alison Kirk, Senior Commissioning Editor, Ashgate Publishing Ltd 

How would I model an organisation & if I could do that, what would I get out of it? 
What is complexity and how can I use it? 
Could complexity help 
    In modernising- esp. with constant change and through put of people 
    In ensuring delivery - how do you ensure you've bringing in enough product to "feed" system (publishing) 

Farooq Khan, Research Analyst, Stratejia

1) If complexity science is truly a scientific field then how does it fulfil the doctrine of the scientific method? How and where does experimentation of reality occur in the complexity science field? Does complexity science offer us a distinct method of viewing and understanding reality and if so what is this method i.e. is it a distinct method? 2) How can policy makers in the developing world employ complexity science to make decisions as they seek to transform their economies?

Background· The developing world face extremely complex problems as they try to advance their countries economically. Many issues contribute to the failure of these states and complexity science offers us a way of viewing the reality of these problems in a new light such that leaders in government, business and industry can adopt better strategies, which will build prosperity while ensuring sustainability. Hence we aim to dissect the reality and arrive at scientific judgements through the employment of complexity science, since the scientific method of thinking enables us to arrive at universal truths, and these truths or laws will therefore enable nations to truly progress since science discovers the natural laws of the universe. Indeed we aim to explore new discoveries through complexity science, which could not be discovered before due to the complex nature of the natural world. In essence it is aiming at a unified theory of why nations progress and why nations fail and to answer such questions in a scientific way.

Janos Korn, Academic 

How do we model complex systems: Mathematic? Natural language? 
How to capture the basic fundamental ideas which are pervasive in the field 
How to use or develop a suitable symbolism which can capture complexity 

Sevasti-Melissa Nolas, Research Officer, LSE Complexity Group

Self organisation, emergence and creation of new order - what can these concepts tell us about change processes in the social arena characterised by an inter-play between different identities, cultures, social realities, ideologies, knowledge and expertise?

Alexandros Paraskevas, Senior Lecturer, Oxford Brookes University

• How can we map the factors which affect IT innovation 
      o Primary adoption (corporate level) 
      o Diffusion within organisation 
   At a corporate level, re.
      o Do we always need a champion (strange attraction)?
      o Certainly need many key influencers
  

Robert Pascall, Student, Kingston Business School 

How can complexity help increase risk taking in a context where there are 7 or 8 principal stakeholder groups, in context of major change.

Maurice Passman Director, ART Ltd

What would be the ideal Co. structure which would exploit complexity principles?
What do people think complexity has to offer to their organisation?
What insights can complexity offer?

Background to questions: It is evident from the meetings that I have attended that many of the non-scientists have very little idea of the mathematical/physics underlying principles of complexity mathematics. They do not understand the basic concepts and limitations of the science. The business organisations that have 'bought into' the idea that complexity science can help their companies are, for example, running pilot schemes that allegedly utilise complexity concepts - such as self organisation - again without, it seems, any understanding of where the scientific terms have their origin and the strict definitions of these terms. 

G.D. Paterson Visiting Professor, Strathclyde University, ex Shell 

How to encourage and support individuals to reflect on what they've doing to increase learning 
How to benefit from the diversity of staff 
How to apply ideas of complexity to improve organisation generally

Ray Sheath, Managing Director, The Scarman Trust  

Whose responsibility is it to define purpose and principles?
Is it necessary that everyone working in the organisation should share those (knowledge of and belief in)
What are the conditions through which those purposes and principles should be allowed to change?

THE SCARMAN TRUST 
The Trust invests in community and social entrepreneurs and their projects. The source of our investment funds and revenue and capital funding is primarily government - from all departments of government. We create very practical and simple investment products, services and, crucially, support that is focused on individuals who are at the heart of their communities. In this way we help communities bring about renewal that is inclusive, that releases unused assets in the community, that uses citizens' own solutions, that begins to build new community based institutions and that is focused on community and individual well being
PRE-AMBLE TO A NEW CONSTITUTION
The Scarman Trust is a UK wide organization currently constituted as a company limited by guarantee with charitable status. That form of incorporation may change in line with changes in UK law but the organization is covenanted to remain a unitary organization. 
Under the current constitution the trustees are empowered to decide upon the management of the trust. Historically that decision has been to appoint and delegate the management to two co-directors - an executive (creative) director and a managing director. With the growth of the trust both in its services and geographical coverage, this management structure is untenable without building more support for the executive and managing directors and effectively entrenching a hierarchical structure -the conventional organizational response to growth. This latter course is against the ethos of the trust and in any event would be virtually impossible to sustain from a financial viewpoint. A new management structure is required.
The purpose of the new constitution therefore is to define a new management structure that is more sustainable, democratic and in keeping with the covenant, ethos and values of the trust. The aim of this organizational transformation is directed towards the Trust's staff -to evolve an organization that will develop their capabilities and release their creativity. Only in this way can the Trust fulfil its covenant to communities. The trust will then become an exemplar of organizational internal and external citizenship.
For the purposes of clarity, this operating constitution is neither a devolved, federal or con-federal model. It is an alternative organizational model. The focus is on employees being creative and themselves taking actions and initiatives "Power To Do" to support citizens in the communities. It is for people inside and outside the organization in equal measure. It is democratic in that the management and control functions are not through a hierarchical power structure but through participative structures that engage employees in this role.
The management of the trust is being transferred from the executive director and the managing director to the new constitutional arrangements over the transition year 1/4/03 - 31/3/04

Stuart Smith, Associate Director Woodholmes.ksa

Can complexity help us if high levels of scrutiny stifle innovation (& find a way out of the maze?)