OPEN ACCESS
This paper explores the capacity of complex systems to find their own form of order and coherence, often referred to in terms of self-organisation emergent change, then asking the question, ‘What can organisational leaders do to create the systems and structures that would facilitate emergent change?’ Emergent change comes from within and through the active members of a system and is not imposed according to some external prompting or design. This results in the sort of change capacity that enables an organisation to be agile and resilient in highly volatile times. I have identified seven key organisation-specific factors that facilitate emergent change. These include: executive engagement, purposeful orientation, a culture of experimentation, a safe-fail culture, collaborative decision-making, collaborative quality measures, and intentional learning. These factors were initially identified through an extensive literature review, interviews with the CEOs of 15 Canadian healthcare organisations, and a think tank of subject matter experts. This resulted in the use of exploratory factor analysis to validate a survey that can be used to assess the presence or absence of these factors in a specific organisation, thus providing leaders with a framework for change.
change, collaboration, creativity, emergence, leadership, learning, self-organisation
[1] Vaill, P.B., Learning as a way of being: Strategies for survival in a world of permanent white water. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, CA, 1996.
[2] Eoyang, G.H. & Holladay, R.J., Adaptive action: Leveraging uncertainty in your organization. Stanford University Press: Stanford, CA, 2013.
[3] Zimmerman et al., Edgeware; Insights from complexity science for health care leaders. VHA Inc: Irving, TX, 1998.
[4] Plowman, D.A., Solansky, S., Beck, T. E., Baker, L., Kulkarni, M. & Travis, D.V. The role of leadership in emergent, self-organisation. Leadership Quarterly, 18(4), 341–356, 2007. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2007.04.004
[5] Rost, P. Leadership for the 21st Century. Praeger Publishing: Westport, CT, p. 102, 1993.
[6] Lichtenstein, B.B. & Plowman, D.A., The leadership of emergence: A complex systems leadership theory of emergence at successive organisational levels. The Leadership Quarterly,
20(4), 617–630, 2009. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2009.04.006
[7] Arena, M.J. Understanding large group intervention processes: A complexity theory perspective. Organisation Development Journal, 27(1), 49–64, 2009.
[8] Lichtenstein, B.B., Emergence as a process of self-organising - new assumptions and insights from the study of non-linear dynamic systems. Journal of Organisational Change Management, 13(6), 526–544, 2000. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09534810010378560
[9] Olson, E.E. & Eoyang, G.H., Facilitating Organisation Change: Lessons from Complexity Science. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, CA 2001.
[10] Lindberg, C., Nash, S. & Lindberg, C. On the Edge: Nursing in the Age of Complexity. Plexus Press: Bordentown, NJ, 2008.
[11] Marion, R. & Uhl-Bien, M. Introduction to the special issue on leadership and complexity. The Leadership Quarterly, 18(4), 293–296, 2007. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j. leaqua.2007.04.001
[12] Uhl-Bien, M. & Marion, R. Complexity Leadership. IAP: Charlotte, NC, 2008.
[13] Dickens, P., Cultural & global dimensions of change: Power dynamics in a health care setting. Unpublished manuscript, Antioch University, Yellow Springs, OH, 2010.
[14] Dombrowski, C., Kim, J.Y., Desouza, K.C., Braganza, A., Papagari, S., Baloh, P. & Jha, S. Elements of innovative cultures. Knowledge and Process Management, 14(3), 190–202, 2007. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/kpm.279
[15] Heifetz, R., Grashow, A. & Linsky, M., The practice of adaptive leadership: Tools and tactics for changing your organisation and the world. Harvard Business Press: Boston, MA, 2009.
[16] Holman, P., Devane, T. & Cady, S. The Change Handbook: The Definitive Resource on Today’s Best Methods for Engaging Whole Systems, 2nd edn., Berrett-Koehler: San Francisco, CA, p. 12, 2007.
[17] Wergin, J.F., Departments that Work: Building and Sustaining Cultures of Excellence in Academic Programs. Anker: Boston, MA, 2003.
[18] Westley, F., Patton, M.Q. & Zimmerman, B., Getting to Maybe: How the World is Changed. Vintage Canada: Toronto, Canada, 2007.
[19] Stacey, R., Complexity and Creativity in Organisation. Berrett-Koehler: San Francisco, CA, p. 72, 1996.
[20] Argyris, C., On organisational learning. Blackwell: Cambridge, MA, 1992.
[21] Mesirow, J., Transformative Dimensions of Adult Learning. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, CA, 1991.
[22] Boisot, M. & Child, J. Organisations as adaptive systems in complex environments: The case in China. Organisational Science, 20(3), 237–252, p. 238, 1999.
[23] Wheatley, M., Leadership and the New Science. Berrett-Koehler: San Francisco, CA, 1994.
[24] Arthur, W.B., The Nature of Technology: What It is and How It Evolves. Free Press: New York, NY 2009.