Change, Stability, and Renewal: The Paradoxes of Self-Organizing Systems

"Without changing our patterns of thought, we will not be able to solve the problems we created with our current pattern of thought."  A. Einstein

The reading of Wheatley describes how recent discoveries in the new sciences radically alter our understanding of the world and can teach us to live and work well together in these turbulent times. Wheatley eloquently demonstrates that relationships, not lone individuals, are the basic organizing unit of life, that chaos and change are the only routes to transformation, that participation and cooperation are essential to survival in an interconnected world, and that order is natural, but cannot be achieved through traditional methods of control.  It illustrates how new science concepts are clearly evident in the daily news. Wheatley observes that terrorist networks are powerful examples of a global networked organization; our failure to realize that we are fighting a network rather than traditional hierarchy deceives us into thinking that we’re winning the war on terror. She also uses disaster relief efforts to illuminate what we can learn about bringing order out of chaos, emphasizing the contrast between the innovative, self-organized efforts of the people involved and the near-paralysis of the bureaucracies. These examples demonstrate the urgent need to learn from the new sciences and to put these approaches into practice in all organizations if we are to deal well with the turbulence and upheavals of our time.

Characteristics of Self-Organizing Systems:

The self-organizing dynamics exhibited by chemical clocks are evident in all open systems.  These dynamics apply to such a broad spectrum of phenomena that they unify science across the domains of many disciplines.  But more importantly, they give us a new picture of the world, they let us feel the quality of a world which gives birth to ever new variety and ever new manifestations of order against a background of constant change.

1. Self-Reference – is what facilitates orderly change in turbulent environments.  In human organizations, a clear sense of identity – of the values, traditions, aspirations, competencies, and culture that guide the operation - is the real source of independence from the environment.  When the environment demands a new response, there is a reference point for change.  This prevents the vacillations and the random search for new customers and new ventures that have destroyed so many businesses over the past several years.

1. Stability Over Time – they are often referred to as globally stable structures.  Yet when we speak of the stability of mature self-organizing systems, we are referring only to a quality of the whole system.  In fact, this global stability is maintained by another paradoxical situation, the presence of many fluctuations and instabilities occurring at local levels throughout the system.  To use the example of an ecosystem, any mature ecosystem experiences many changes and fluctuations at the level of individuals and species.  But the total systems remains stable, capable of developing its own rhythm  of growing and lessening the impact on the system of such outside disturbances as climatic change local disturbances are not suppressed; there is no central command control that prohibits small, constant changes.  The system allows for many levels of autonomy within itself, and for small fluctuations and changes.  By tolerating these, it is able to preserve its global stability and integrity in the environment.

1. Freedom and Order – The two forces that we have always placed in opposition to one another turn out to be partners in generating stable, well-ordered, autonomous systems.  If we allow autonomy at the local level, letting individuals or units be directed in their decisions by guideposts for organizational self-reference, we can achieve coherence and continuity.  Self-organization succeeds when the system supports the independent activity of its members by giving them a strong frame of reference.  When it does this, the global system achieves even greater levels of autonomy and integrity.

Source: Change, Stability, and Renewal: The Paradoxes of Self-Organizing Systems by Margaret Wheatley