A piece in yesterday’s New Scientist titled ‘Can Complexity Theory Explain Egypt’s Crisis?’ explores ideas of complexity in the context of the ongoing events in Egypt. It draws on the insights of two noted complexity thinkers – Yaneer Bar-Yam and Thomas Homer-Dixon. Excerpts are reproduced below with permission: Egyptians are the world’s biggest wheat importers and consumers, and [...]
Archive for the ‘Networks’ Category
Complexity with a human face
Posted in Campaigns, Financial crisis, Leadership, Networks, Resilience, Self organisation on February 4, 2011 | 5 Comments »
To build peace, first understand the dynamics of war
Posted in Benoit Mandelbrot, Chaos, Conflict and peace building, Evolution, Knowledge and learning, Networks, Pacifism, Public Policy on January 14, 2011 | 1 Comment »
A fascinating 7 minute TED talk by Sean Gourley.
When Can Crowds Outperform Aid Experts?
Posted in Biology, Campaigns, Evaluation, Innovation, Knowledge and learning, Natural disasters, Networks, Organisations, Self organisation, Technology on January 3, 2011 | 5 Comments »
When does crowdsourcing work best? New research from the Institute for Human Development provides answers which may be of relevance for aid projects and programmes. There has been a lot written, spoken and blogged about the power of crowds in making decisions. In James Surowiecki‘s bestselling Wisdom of Crowds, published in 2004, the central thesis [...]
Complexity and the Wealth of Nations
Posted in Economics, Evolution, Innovation, Networks, Public Policy, Self organisation, Technology, Trade on December 15, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Complexity scientists have long argued for the use of concepts such as nonlinearity and interconnectednesss to better understand economic phenomena, including growth, market failures and crashes. Ongoing research at the Harvard Center for International Development is taking this area of work forward in very promising ways. In some ways, as Tim Harford has argued, the notion [...]
Chance favours the connected mind
Posted in Biology, Evolution, Innovation, Institutions, Knowledge and learning, Networks, Public Policy on December 10, 2010 | 3 Comments »
This is a short animated summary of Stephen Johnson’s Where Good Ideas Come From, which looks at innovation from a complex systems perspective. It highlights the importance of slow hunches as opposed to flashes of inspiration; suggests that borrowing and combining hunches has been the primary engine of innovation; and suggests what the internet is [...]
The simplicity on the far side of complexity
Posted in Biology, Conflict and peace building, Knowledge and learning, Networks, Public Policy, Strategy on November 13, 2010 | 3 Comments »
Most readers will know this image, now iconic for all the wrong reasons (and blogged about here earlier this year) We shouldn’t groan when we see such images, we should be excited. A three minute TED talk by ecologist Eric Berlow explains why, using approaches from his work in natural systems. The presentation left me reflecting [...]
The Dolt’s Guide to Self Organisation
Posted in Innovation, Institutions, Knowledge and learning, Leadership, Networks, Organisations, Self organisation, Strategy on September 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
This week’s presentation is a lovely piece of work by Jurgen Appelo of Management 3.0 fame.
Assumptions are the mother of all **** ***
Posted in Innovation, Knowledge and learning, Networks, Technology on September 8, 2010 | 1 Comment »
This week’s presentation is a thought-provoking, visually stunning video from Jane at Resonance Blog, entitled Complexity and Humanity 2.0. Enjoy.
The Aid Leadership Paradox
Posted in Facilitation, Innovation, Institutions, Knowledge and learning, Leadership, Networks, Organisations, Resilience, Self organisation, Strategy on August 24, 2010 | 5 Comments »
“In these troubled, uncertain times, we don’t need more command and control; we need better means to engage everyone’s intelligence in solving challenges and crises as they arise.” Traditional perspectives on leadership are based on a view of organisations as mechanical systems. Organisations are made up of prescriptive rules, formalised control mechanisms and hierarchical authority [...]
What brain scientists can tell us about learning in aid agencies
Posted in Chaos, Innovation, Institutions, Knowledge and learning, Leadership, Networks, Organisations, Self organisation, Strategy on August 13, 2010 | 3 Comments »
According to 2008 ALNAP research on organisational change in the humanitarian sector, ’all theories of organization and management are based on implicit images or metaphors that lead us to see, understand, and manage organisations in distinctive yet partial ways.’ One of the key metaphors used in that work, drawing on the groundbreaking efforts of organisational theorist [...]
