Brave New Work

Instead of constantly overreacting, we can use theory to make a more nuanced choice. In a complex world, decentralization offers many benefits, but we need to maintain collective coherence. To achieve this, we can leverage transparency, social pressure, and principles. What simple rules would have to be in place to allow local or decentralized authority and action in perpetuity? And when centralization seems to make sense—as with some software platforms or shared data sources—I use one question to clarify my position: which structure will make us faster and more adaptive? Whatever that is, centralized, decentralized, or somewhere in between, I’m for that one.

Aaron Dignan in Brave New Work

While many of the activities and outputs of organizations are indeed complicated, the organization itself is complex. Accordingly, organizational culture isn’t a problem to be solved; it’s an emergent phenomenon that we have to cultivate.

Aaron Dignan in Brave New Work

Jim Barksdale, former CEO of Netscape, once quipped, “Saying that the purpose of a company is to make money is like saying that your purpose in life is to breathe.”

Aaron Dignan in Brave New Work

Contrary to popular opinion, among people who study systems theory, “complicated” and “complex” are distinct words with precise meanings. The engine inside a car is complicated. A complicated system is a causal system—meaning it is subject to cause and effect. Although it may have many parts, they will interact with one another in highly predictable ways. Problems with complicated systems have solutions. This means that, within reason, a complicated system can be fixed with a high degree of confidence. It can be controlled. This is not to say that a complicated system can’t be confusing or inaccessible to the layperson. Quite the contrary. Understanding a complicated system, such as an engine or a 3-D printer, requires specialized expertise and experience. Here, experts can detect patterns and provide solutions based on established good practice. This is the domain of the mechanic, the watchmaker, the air traffic controller, the architect, and the engineer. Traffic, on the other hand, is complex. A complex system is not causal, it’s dispositional. We can make informed guesses about what it is likely to do (its disposition), but we can’t be sure. We can make predictions about the weather, but we cannot control it. Unlike complicated problems, complex problems cannot be solved, only managed. They cannot be controlled, only nudged. This is the domain of the butterfly effect, where a small change can lead to something big, and a big change might barely make a dent. Here expertise can be a disadvantage if it becomes dogma or blinds us to the inherent uncertainty present in our situation.

Aaron Dignan in Brave New Work

Complex systems are typically made up of a large number of interacting components—people, ants, brain cells, startups—that together exhibit adaptive or emergent behavior without requiring a leader or central control. As a result, complex systems are more about the relationships and interactions among their components than about the components themselves. And these interactions give rise to unpredictable behavior. If a system surprises you, or has the potential to surprise you, it is likely complex. Software is complicated. Creating a software startup is complex. An airplane is complicated. What happens between the people on board is complex.

Aaron Dignan in Brave New Work

Agility is a mindset, not a tool set. It’s a piece of the puzzle, not the whole thing. It is necessary but not sufficient.

Aaron Dignan in Brave New Work