Professional Documents
Culture Documents
complexity
Revisiting our assumptions about innovation and growth, Martyn Brown
tries to make sense of anxiety, myth and our lack of control in the modern
world and advocates a radical complexity perspective.
Martyn Brown is a
business director in
Ashridge Consulting
working internationally
with innovative ways of
Yet things never quite work out the way they are
Email: martyn.brown
@ashridge.org.uk
www.ashridge.com/directions
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childish, in fact.
things.
remains elusive.
A common situation
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www.ashridge.com/directions
Working with
complexity
but to help the process of clarification, motivation
perspectives.
produce a vision.
seriously questioned.
Dependency on:
www.ashridge.com/directions
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Culture
can
become
the
overriding,
deny
managers
the
importance
of
top
organisations
Whilst we know that exciting an organisation, by
whatever means, has huge advantages, it also has
big problems.
There is the danger of false bravado whereby the
organisation encourages manufactured optimism.
The dilemma of public celebration and private
realism is rarely discussed or understood. Private
thoughts are often held back as a defence against
failure, and against accusations of disloyalty.
Cultures of unreality can be created. If they are
At an organisational level:
every person.
Paraphrasing author Doug Griffin, the
assumption is that leaders are meant to set out a
vision, an idealised end-state for the organisation,
and then to empower people, that is, drive
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doing.
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www.ashridge.com/directions
Working with
complexity
people.
complexity
perspective.
world of organisations.
of relating.
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i n C i s c o . Yo u ve g o t t o h ave p e o p l e w h o
b e a b l e t o p l ay o n t h e t e a m , l i k e n i n g h i s
Accepting failure
culture of fear.
sys t e m a n d p u s h i n g o r n u d g i n g i t i n t o
organisation.
dynamic
of
f r e e - f l ow i n g ,
spontaneous
c o n s t a n t l y r e s p o n d s, s o a s t o s u r v i ve a n d
prosper.
ave r a g e, d e v i a n t , m ave r i c k , e c c e n t r i c a n d
H a m e l s i d e a s a b o u t n e w vo i c e s, n e w
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www.ashridge.com/directions
Working with
complexity
potential
transformation.
for
novelty,
innovation
or
Paradox of Control in
Organizations, Routledge.
2. Hamel, G. (2000).
Routledge; Stacey, R.
incompetent.
FURTHER READING
1. Streatfield, P. (2001).The
Edition, Financial
Times/Prentice Hall; Stacey
Processes in Organisations,
Learning and Knowledge
Creation, Routledge.
www.ashridge.com/directions
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control.