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1-Page Summary of Leadership and the New Science
The Need for A More Fluid Style of Organizing
The world is changing quickly, so many companies are trying new flexible types of organizations. You should encourage this experimentation because the world requires a more effective type of organization to deal with change. The old ways don’t work in our personal lives, communities, workplaces or society. We need new forms based on how life changes and we can better flow with it.
To move toward this new way of organizing, let go of old forms and see the world anew. Our old way of seeing the world is based on a Newtonian view of the universe, where we take things apart to understand them better. Our approach has been to break things down into their parts and then put them back together again.
The way things work in the world is not like a machine. Rather, it’s more of an organism that changes as we interact with it. We are constantly evolving and affecting our environment, so essentially we’re co-evolving.
New discoveries in quantum mechanics suggest that the relationship between atoms and particles is more important than their individual characteristics. In other words, all the things we see around us are not fundamental building blocks but rather manifestations of a deeper connection between them.
Relationships between humans are important to many different types of people. For example, Gaia theory was originally developed by James Lovelock and looks at the way society functions as a whole with its own self-regulation based on how those systems work together to create positive change in more areas than they would have separately. The chemical industry responds to environmental threats by producing ways of developing chemicals that offer benefits to society through advancements such as medicines or safe foods. Fifth grade teachers give kids intrinsic rewards for good work which can be things like learning new skills, developing every aspect of themselves intellectually and gaining confidence from their hard work.
So, in order to make our organizations more effective, we need to pay attention to the principles of relationships and see them as living systems that can adapt and grow.
How Everything in the World Organizes Itself
All living things must maintain some sort of order to survive. Organisms change because they need to stay in balance with the environment around them. In relationships, people are separate from one another but still a part of a larger system made up of multiple relationships. They’re all individuals in their own right and at the same time a part of something greater than themselves.
“Dissipative structures” are natural systems that reorganize themselves to be more suited to their environment. Therefore, a stable system will eventually die if it doesn’t change and become something else.
There is a relationship between chaos and order. This relationship is like that of yin and yang, which are opposites that complement each other. We need both change and stability to grow, because growth comes from this mix of the two.
Changing Forms to Respond to Chaos and Order
Because organizations are constantly going back and forth from chaos to order, we need a new style of leadership. We should look for ways to create order in an unpredictable world instead of trying to control everything.
Instead of being organized based on departments, organizations should be shaped based on the reality that everything is interconnected. We exist only in relationship to others.
The interrelationship between people and the environment means that people are different in different settings. The workplace environment will greatly affect how they act, feel, and perform. Therefore, shaping this environment to fit your vision or values will have a great influence on what people do. This may include creating a vision for the organization or making sure everyone shares company values.
