Leadership in Chaordic Organizations

by McCarter; Beverly G.

• ISBN13: 9781420074178
• ISBN10: 1420074172
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-10-17
• Publisher: Auerbach Public

Summary

Few have fully examined what is needed to develop and lead teams in environments where staffing shortages and limited funds are the norm. Traditional management theory no longer holds, as trust is not easily nurtured in environments shaped by scarcity. This book examines what is meant by Complex Adaptive Systems. It accepts that humans are illogical and emotional beings. It offers a trans-disciplinary approach to leadership with elements of neurobiology, systems engineering, complexity science, and philosophy, as well as evolutionary and social psychology. It is a reference for systems engineers and organizational managers, coaches, and psychologists.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xi
Foreword	p. xv
Preface	p. xix
Acknowledgments	p. xxi
Authors	p. xxiii
Definition of Complexity and Its Impact on Organizations	p. 1
Definition of Complexity	p. 4
Complex System Behaviors	p. 9
Surprising Emergence	p. 9
Evolves on Its Own as a Whole	p. 9
Acts Robustly	p. 10
Thrives on Diversity	p. 10
Many Factors at Play	p. 10
Stimulates Different Perspectives	p. 11
Ever Changing	p. 11
Informs the Observer	p. 11
Performs Openly	p. 11
Internal and External Relationships Are Key	p. 12
Self-Organized	p. 12
Sensitive to Small Effects	p. 12
Exhibits Tight and Loose Couplings	p. 12
Complex Systems Engineering Principles	p. 13
Bring Humility	p. 13
Follow Holism	p. 13
Achieve Balance	p. 14
Utilize Trans-Disciplines	p. 14
Embrace POET (Political, Operational, Economic, and Technical) Aspects	p. 14
Nurture Discussions	p. 15
Pursue Opportunities	p. 15
Formulate Heuristics	p. 16
Foster Trust	p. 16
Create an Interactive Environment	p. 17
Stimulate Self-Organization	p. 18
Seek Simple Elements	p. 19
Enforce Layered Architecture	p. 19
Human Behavior	p. 20
Impact on Organizations	p. 21
Overarching Fragility Concern	p. 25
Recognize That Complex Systems Can Do Better than We Can	p. 26
The Nature of Being Human	p. 29
Mind and the Brain: An Overview	p. 30
Basics of the Brain	p. 33
Mind, Body, and Environment Interaction	p. 37
The Mind and Emergence	p. 38
Images and Knowledge: What Is Reality?	p. 39
Innate Dispositions for Survival	p. 41
Beyond the Non-Conscious	p. 43
Emotions	p. 45
Reason and Decision Making	p. 48
Synopsis	p. 55
How to Build Trust	p. 57
Perspectives on Trust	p. 61
World Politics, Religions, and Fear	p. 62
Biases of Individuals, Groups, and Organizations	p. 66
Learning in Organizations	p. 67
Storytelling	p. 70
Perceptions of Reality and Power	p. 72
Applying Laws of Power and Getting Inside	p. 74
Types of Trust	p. 76
Persistent Trust	p. 76
How Your Emotions May Affect Your Trust	p. 79
Interpersonal Trust When Not Face to Face	p. 80
Trust and Inter-Reality Systems	p. 82
Trust in Mental Health	p. 83
Trusting with Limited Interpersonal Contact	p. 84
Implications for Leadership	p. 86
Recapitulation	p. 87
Collective Group Dynamics: A New View of High-Performance Teams	p. 95
Introduction	p. 95
Characteristics of Traditional Teams	p. 97
Enneagram®	p. 100
Cynefin Framework	p. 101
Examples and Level of Commitment	p. 101
Behaviors	p. 103
Distributed Team Models	p. 108
Serious Games/Virtual Worlds for Training	p. 111
Difficulties in Distributed Environments	p. 115
X-Teams	p. 119
Exploration of Dissenting Individual Mindsets	p. 121
Program/Project Management	p. 125
Information Sharing	p. 127
Guilds	p. 131
Organizational Learning	p. 134
Implications for Leadership in Chaordic Organizations	p. 138
Summary	p. 142
Takeaways	p. 144
Application of Theory	p. 147
Complex Adaptive Systems: A Reprise of Previous Chapters	p. 147
Conflict	p. 154
Process Enneagram©	p. 156
Change	p. 161
How to Facilitate Change in Organizations	p. 162
Counseling Skills and Techniques	p. 168
Specific Techniques	p. 170
Core Values	p. 171
Ground Rules	p. 171
Evaluating Group Processes	p. 173
Social Systems	p. 175
The Individual	p. 178
Changing Our Behaviors	p. 179
Views of Reality	p. 180
Human Systems:-What Makes Them Complex	p. 186
Today's Problems Com^ from Yesterday's Solutions	p. 186
The Harder You Push, the Harder the System Pushes Back	p. 187
Behavior Grows Better before It Gets Worse	p. 187
The Easy Way Out Usually Leads Back In	p. 187
Faster Is Slower	p. 188
Cause and Effect Are Not Closely Related in Time and Space	p. 188
Small Changes Can Produce Big Results, but the Areas of Highest Leverage Are Often the Least Obvious	p. 188
Dividing an Elephant in Half Does Not Produce Two Elephants	p. 189
There Is No Blame	p. 189
Summary	p. 189
Wicked Problems and MUVEs: Understanding Human Interactions through Multiuser Virtual Environments	p. 193
Dynamics of Living Human Systems at Work	p. 194
Psychology of Virtual Worlds	p. 195
Next Level of Interaction and Learning	p. 198
Narrative Structures and the Underlying Psychological Dynamics	p. 201
Appendix A	p. 203
Mini-Lexicon of Selected Terms	p. 203
Appendix B	p. 213
INCOSE Working Group Sidebar on Complex Systems	p. 213
Appendix C	p. 223
Quotations from The 48 Laws of Power	p. 223
Appendix D	p. 231
Research for Virtual Worlds' Promotion of Oxytocin	p. 231
Appendix E	p. 233
On the Information Explosion	p. 233
Appendix F	p. 237
On the Deeper Impact of Virtual Worlds	p. 237
Appendix G	p. 245
Web Collaboration, Workspace, Blog Platforms	p. 245
References	p. 259
Bibliography	p. 275
Index	p. 277
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.