complexity theory

[mark lewis]

Does anyone know of a good, intelligable book about complexity theory. I'm interested in the scientific side but really looking for one that talks about the application of the theory to organizations.

Tx

[David Bausola]

These might be of interest:-

Ubiquity: The New Science That Is Changing the World

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

Sync: The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order

Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities and Software

As far as I know, no one has wrote the book about applying rule 30 to organisations.

[Mark Earls]

Hi Mark.

There's a number of good ones on the scientific side but the best intro is Philip Ball's Critical Mass (takes a broader view - how physics has been applied to understanding human behaviour since Adam Smith...). Lots of trails from their.

Otherwise, the key memese emerging are:
- emergence (lots of tomes on this in business imprints)
- self-organising (ditto)

One of the early ones to look at is Kevin Kelly's Out of control from a decade ago. Still worth a look.

And then, there's a bunch of folk based around the LSE who are looking at complexity and human behaviour from a number of angles. Haven't caught up with them for a couple of years but they used to do interesting stuff...

Hope all well.

M

[farisyakob]

Hey - it's a really interesting area - critical mass and emergence are the ones i've read and they both rock.

But this might help with your specifics:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complexity_Theory_and_Organizations

F

[richard huntington]

I like Navigating Complexity
Specifically written for organisations

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Navigating-Complexity-Essential-Business-Ma...

[mark lewis]

Thanks for all the great recommednations - I'm sure this will lead to more deposits in Jeff Bezos' bank account.