Appreciating Organizational Complexity
Appreciate
To understand fully. To recognize the full worth of. To recognize the full implications of.
(Source: Merriam-Webster)
To appreciate organizational complexity, first you must comprehend what complexity is when we use the term to describe human organizations. Comprehend means more than a simple understanding. Comprehend means to gain an ability to do something with a term; to grasp the term, to realize its worth and potential, and to follow that term across different intellectual streams of thought.
-Dr. James R. Barker-
If you are interested in pursuing leadership and organizational complexity, I would recommend their book (written with Fred R. Blass), The 52nde Floor: Thinking Deeply about Leadership.
Here are three very useful books on organizational complexity if you want to take on a more in-depth study.
Phillip K. Tompkins
Managing Risk and Complexity through Open Communication and Teamwork
West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press, 2015.
Tompkins’ book is a very useful blend of theory and practice to demonstrate the power of communication in moving complex organizations forward in a positive direction.
The following two books are by Ralph Stacey, the renowned UK scholar of organizational complexity. These two books represent the best conceptual monographs on how complexity ‘works’ in our organizations.
Tools and Techniques of Leadership and Management: Meeting the Challenge of Complexity
London: Taylor and Francis, 2012.
Strategic Management and Organisational Dynamics: The challenge of complexity to ways of thinking about organisations (7th Edition), with Chris Mowles. London: Pearson, 2011
If you want to delve deeper into the work of Todd Conklin, here is a link to one of his full presentations:
https://caul-cbua.pressbooks.pub/orgcomplexity/chapter/additional-content/
Adapting to COVID 19
I started off our work by noting that the pandemic had changed us, especially in our organizational work. Here is a link to a video from my MBA-Financial Services/Leadership class in managerial skills with me interviewing Professor Phil Clampitt, the author of our course textbook. The video overviews the key changes for managers wrought by the pandemic.
VIDEO: Phil Clampitt Video on Covid-19 Changes
Phil’s works are excellent knowledge sources for managing in complex organizations. You will find his work at the following web sites:
I recommend two of his books as essential resources for dealing effectively with everyday managerial problems:
Clampitt, Phillip G. & DeKoch, Robert J. (2013). Transforming Leaders into Progress Makers. Los Angeles: Sage. ISBN: 978-1-4129-7369-1
Clampitt, P. G. (2016). Communicating for Managerial Effectiveness. 6th Edition. Los Angeles: Sage. ISBN-13: 978-1412992046
Exercise:
The video discussed five fundamental changes that the pandemic has wrought for management. How are you experiencing these changes in your workplace or how did you experience them on your residency?
Architecture:
Events:
Informal Communication:
Oscillation:
Unlearning:
Use your answers here to shape how you move forward, how you become the leader your organization needs you to be, right now.
