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Complexity science shows that complexity has an inherent and underlying simplicity of self-organizing nature (Obolensky, 2010). In other words, complexity science and theory shows us that underneath a complex system there is an underlying ‘emergent’ simple behavior. Therefore, this is where order emerges out of a chaos situation and where chaos emerges out of an ordered situation. Reflecting on complexity science and theory in organizations, this is basically telling me that in organizations there will always be some type of chaos and out of that chaos some order will emerge and vice versa. The reason why I say there will always be some type of chaos is because no manager and/or employee can foretell the future to prevent changes or bad situations. Even if a manager could control every step taken inside the organization, there will always be some external force (market) that will and can change the course (goals) of the organization. So as leaders we need to able to probe, sense, respond and adapt to the changing environment.

Lorenz’s Strange Attractor – the butterfly effect – is about how a “very small change within a complex system can produce a very large difference to what would have otherwise happened. Even complex and chaotic systems, which are unpredictable in the long run, have an underlying pattern” (Obolensky, 2010). To me the butterfly effect is about understanding as a leader that every small decision made during any situation can impact the organization on a larger scale. So what you do, how you react, and how much effort it’s put into solving or adapting to the situation can impact the organization. Therefore, as leaders we must always be conscience of the consequences our decisions may have. It may not affect the organization or an individual immediately but it will eventually affect the organization and/or the individual.

For example, about 6 years ago my organization was involved in some unethical standards. The director of the campus organization at the time had decided that it would be ok to show favoritism, to just fire those he did not personally like, and to insult employees. On the organization’s campus larger scale, the organizational culture and employee morale had completely plummeted. About a year later, some employees had gathered enough evidence against this person and against the company practices that those employees affected raised a lawsuit. This lawsuit affected the entire organization globally. Stock value began to drop, there was higher employee turnover, more accusations were made, and so on. Therefore, this small situation (compared to the organization globally) of how one person decided to act affected the organization so much more than anyone would’ve ever thought it would.

Another example would be of our own little store. As a café store, we see, talk, and deal with customers’ everyday. When a customer comes in, orders but isn’t fully satisfied chances are that this customer will not return to our store again. But, when our employees are more in tuned with how to read customers nonverbal reaction and how to solve potential problems chances are that the customer will be satisfied and the organization would gain one more loyal customer. Making this small change of teaching our employees how to read nonverbal cues and how to sense and solve potential problems has greatly yielded a larger loyal customer base than any other dining store within our campus.

The implication of complexity theory for me is that I will always need to remember that chaos can happen at anytime and that out of chaos, order will emerge. I can’t control everything or be everywhere at once in order to put out fires. Sometimes I need to let chaos take its course and help order emerge out of this chaos. I need to be able to recognize these types of situations so I can sense, respond and adapt to the new environment. If I were to still be in my past organization, I would need to continue empowering employees to make decisions and to continue trusting their judgment. I would also need to teach them the ability to sense, respond and adapt to the new environment. This new drive would allow me to take a step back, reflect on what is going on at the moment and tweak, if necessary, the current goals. By doing this, I would free up some more of my time, which could be allocated to strategic leadership.

Reference:

Obolensky, N. (2010). Order in Chaos, Simplicity in Complexity - The Deeper Paradox. Complex adaptive leadership embracing paradox and uncertainty (pp. 65-91). Farnham, Surrey: Gower.