COMPLEXITY and CHAOS in ORGANIZATIONS

Spring 1999

------------------- DRAFT ------------------

Professors: Eric B. Dent, Ph.D.

Office Phone: 202 496 8385

Home Phone: 301 881 2115

http://gwis2.circ.gwu.edu/~edent

None (see below)

Wilber, Ken (1996). A brief history of everything. Boston: Shambhala.

Goldstein, J. (1994). The unshackled organization. Portland, OR: Productivity Press, Inc.

Harmon, Willis (1998). Global mind change. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2^nd edition.

1. To learn about and to critically examine, theories and research findings about course topics including:

• the basic tenets of complexity science, chaos theory, etc.
• the philosophical premises which underlie these approaches
• organizational phenomenon such as leadership and change management from the new science perspectives.
• computer simulations of social phenomena
• complex adaptive systems
• Aweb@ structures
• virtual and technology-driven organizations

2. To synthesize and develop your own conceptualization of the usefulness of the complexity/new science ideas to organizations.

The conduct of the class will be that of a classic seminar. Each session will be an extended discussion around some conceptual material that is introduced. Each session, a book and an academic article about complexity science will be used as the Aattractor@ for the discussion. I will provide the conceptual material for the first couple of sessions. Thereafter, during each session a class participant will present the topic(s) based on the book/article assigned to her/him. A second student will be assigned to be the Adiscussion leader@ for that book/article. At least one other person will have been assigned the same book/article, so at least three people (plus me) will have read the book/article. Other students will be able to participate in the discussion because they will be briefly presented with the major points of the book/article. The books/articles assigned will be selected from the lists provided below. Students may suggest other books/articles which will be suitable as long as they primarily pertain to the topic of the course.

So, the course requirements are for each participant to:

• read three fairly-easy-to-read books on this subject
• read three academic articles
• read an article about complexity science in literature
• be the Apresenter@ or concept-introducer for one book and one academic article
• be the discussion leader for one book and one academic article
• contribute to class (see below)
• participate in email discussion during the week
• write three 2-page papers which are critiques of the class discussion on the books/articles. These should feed into your course paper. They are due one-week after the class critiqued.
• write a course paper, due the last night of class, the topic of which is basically, "given the books you've read, the discussions in class, etc. how do you see complexity science playing a role in organizations?" This paper should be a minimum of 25 pages.

Desserts/Course Enrichments

• You may want to participate in one or more meetings of the New Sciences Special Interest Group of the Chesapeake Bay Organizational Development Network. I have participated in many of these sessions for a few years and always find them thought-provoking and insightful. It is an opportunity to meet with OD practitioners who are trying to put into practice these ideas. Spring meetings are currently scheduled for : January 20^th and February 17^th.

• You may want to participate in an excellent ongoing on-line dialogue about complexity science as it pertains to management. You join the listserv by sending a subscribe complex-m <name> message to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com

• Several movies address topics germane to this course. The movie Mindwalk is directly about complexity science. It is Capra=s Turning Point set to film. It didn=t outsell Titanic buy many Blockbuster=s carry it. Gelman library also has a copy.

Book List

Recommended books above

Bailey, James (1996). After thought. New York: BasicBooks [sic].

Holland, John H. (1995). Hidden order. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

?Scott, Alwyn (19XX). Stairway to the mind

?Stewart, Ian and Cohen, Jack (1996). The collapse of chaos.

?Stewart, Ian and Cohen, Jack (1997). The figment of reality.

Article List

Although several of the books above are more general than just applications to organizations, I would like for us to restrict our articles to those which are academic in nature and specifically address complexity science in organizations.

Anything from Emergence: A Journal of Complexity Issues in Organizations and

Anything about organizations from Nonlinear Dynamics, Psychology, and Life Sciences

any chapter from this edited collection

I am not as interested in classroom participation as classroom contribution. Participation connotes involvement and talking. Contribution implies the willful intent to assist others in the forging of understanding. Contribution not only includes, but also enlarges upon the values represented by participation, because it rivets attention on the goal of generating knowledge. It is impossible to contribute to class if you are absent from class. The litmus test question is ADoes a comment contribute to class process and peer understanding of the concept under discussion?@ Some ways to contribute include:

C comment on specific issues discussed in the readings;

C follow-up on comments from others in the class, either to ask for clarification or to ask for examples;

C illustrate specific issues from the readings with examples from your own experience;

C refrain from comment when you notice others, who have talked less, are wanting to speak

C raise questions that are not covered in the readings;

C contrast the ideas of one theory with those of another;

C ask others in the class, who you know have a differing perspective, to express their ideas

C support the insights or conclusions of a classmate or the instructor by referencing theory, your experience, or your reasoning;

C argue against the insight or conclusions of a classmate or the instructor by referencing theory, your experience, or your reasoning.

We are all professionals in this course. A professional who misses a deadline faces dire consequences. I expect papers to be handed in by the date due. Extensions negotiated more than a week prior to a due date are readily available. Extensions without penalty within one week of a due date will only be considered if an outline or 2 pages of the paper is handed in one week prior to the due date. Lateness penalties: up to one week - 1-10% points; one to two weeks - 11-16% points; over 2 weeks - 17-25% points.

Grading

For each item below, you should be mindful of evaluation criteria such as: clarity of presentation, conceptualization of main points, conceptual consistency, comprehensiveness, etc. Also, each item should be evaluated against general criteria such as clear communication, proper grammar, sustained interest, creativity, thoroughness and related criteria. In general, how hard you may have worked on something is not an evaluation factor.

You will get specific feedback from me on your presentations, discussions led, 2-page papers, and course paper. Using the evaluation criteria, feedback you get from me, feedback from your fellow students, and your own feedback, you will assign yourself a course grade. If I sense a gross difference between my rough idea of what your grade might be and what you submit to me as a self-assigned grade, I will meet with you to understand how you arrived at your evaluation. If I still believe there is a disparity, I will convene a panel consisting of two students and me who will meet with you and hear how you determined your grade. The panel will make a final determination of your grade.

In this class responsibility for learning is shared. As instructor I see my responsibility to create an environment in which meaningful and useful learning takes place. There is an old adage that Aif the student hasn=t learned, the teacher hasn=t taught.@ But that is not an adage to which I subscribe. Rather I agree with Einstein who said AI never teach my pupils. I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.@ I see learning as an active process that requires the learner to actively test out abstract concepts in real world situations, to actively build connections between concepts, and to actively search for examples that confirm or disconfirm concepts. I know that as an instructor I cannot do these things for you - these are your responsibility.

I do not believe I will be teaching you Atruth.@ Rather I am going to share with you my understandings about organizational behavior as I currently frame them. But I find that my understanding is under constant revision. What I view as a useful construct today I may consider only partially true tomorrow. I can do no more than to share with you my current understanding and hope that your active involvement assists my understanding to grow. AWe are each on a journey to wholeness. If we choose to teach... We journey in the presence of others.@

Dr. Dent is presently an assistant professor of administrative sciences at The George Washington University. He is a consultant to Fortune 500, government, and non-profit organizations as well as an invited speaker to national audiences. His research interests include leadership in dynamic, turbulent environments; mental models which underlie organizational behavior; new science and chaos theory applications in organizations, and organizational and adult learning.

In 1993, Dr. Dent founded Always Improvement a management consulting firm dedicated to organizational improvement. His recent work has been in the areas of organizational change, consultation skills, creative thinking, team-building, strategic planning, total quality management, leadership, and business process assessment.

Prior to founding Always Improvement, Dr. Dent served as Vice President, Operations and General Manager of the Washington, DC office of The Todd Organization, a national executive compensation consulting firm. Revenue growth increased at more than a 30% annual rate during his tenure. In this position Dr. Dent acquired more executive management experience and had an opportunity to work as an internal change agent. Dr. Dent also founded Cottontail Diaper Service, Inc. and eventually sold that business startup to a large corporation.

For several years, Dr. Dent worked as a management consultant with Macro International. As Technical Director, he managed over $10 million of training and development contracts with the federal government. He most frequently consulted with The Royal Bank of Canada, The Navy, and Westinghouse Electric Corporation.

Dr. Dent has a PhD in Management and Organization at George Washington University where he worked with the noted human systems professor, Dr. Peter B. Vaill. He has an MBA, also from GWU, and both MS and BS degrees in Computer Science from Emory University.

Dr. Dent has taught over 100 credit hours at prominent universities. He is a member of the Editorial Review Board of the Journal of Managerial Issues. He has authored two mini-textbooks, Organization Development (1993) and Management: Perspectives, Processes, and Productivity (1995). He has published and presented research on chaos theory, resistance to change, learning organizations, and many other topics.

Dr. Dent's career began as a computer scientist. He worked for several years designing satellite communications systems for the IBM Corporation. There he developed state-of-the-art systems integration and project leadership skills.