1 / 10

Surfing the Edge of Chaos

Surfing the Edge of Chaos. Mandy Culver, Kristina Swartwout, Siva Murugesan. Strategy at the Edge of Chaos. New concepts in Management Thinking follow 4 stages Introduction Acceleration Acceptance Maturity. Strategy at the Edge of Chaos.

Download Presentation

Surfing the Edge of Chaos

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Surfing the Edge of Chaos Mandy Culver, Kristina Swartwout, Siva Murugesan

  2. Strategy at the Edge of Chaos New concepts in Management Thinking follow 4 stages • Introduction • Acceleration • Acceptance • Maturity

  3. Strategy at the Edge of Chaos • Strategic concepts are the threshold of management theory • SWOT • Five forces • Competitive advantage • TQM • JIT

  4. Strategic Initiatives often Miss • Appropriate strategic responses do not always happen fast enough • “best” concept changes • Today’s markets are not in a static equilibrium • Markets and organizations are instead creative, evolving, and difficult to predict and control.

  5. Complex Adaptive Systems – 4 tests • Agents acting in parallel • Continuously changing “building blocks” and creating new levels of organization and structure • Wind down over time if they are not replenished with energy • Pattern Recognition • Anticipate the future

  6. 1. Complex Adaptive Systems are at risk when in equilibrium. • Stable equilibrium equals death. • Equilibrium is often tempting – it hides in strong values, close-knit social systems, and operating systems. • Natural selection prevents death for all • Authentic diversity is key to preventing death

  7. 2. Self-Organization and Emergent Complexity • Natural Equilibrium • Emergent Complexity • Simple creative breakthroughs lead to complex innovations • Example: wheel automobiles • You cannot see the end from the beginning • Many futures • Living-systems Approach • Focus on the individual area of the business, rather than top-down directives

  8. 3. Edge of Chaos • Move toward edge of chaos when provoked by a complex task • Positive and negative feedback systems should both be excited • Creative destruction characterizes the hazards near the edge of chaos • “The biggest single threat to our business today is staying with a previously successful business model one year too long” –Tim Mannon, HP

  9. 4. You can’t direct a living system, only DISTURB it. • Weak cause-and-effect linkages • Small and isolated changes can have huge effects, while large changes may have little • Coyote population example

  10. Conclusion • Complexity makes the strategic challenge more understandable • Understanding the complexity and adaptability of organizations argues for broadening the traditional strategic approach

More Related