Complex Adaptive Systems Management 

Couch & Associates Pty Ltd has special strengths in the critical thinking required for investigating, designing, implementing and controlling complex dynamic systems in order to secure their greatest realisable benefits .

Combined with developed people skills, specialist knowledge of our Associates and management capability, these strengths promote clear understanding of clients' operations and environments and account for our level of success in assignments.

This page:

• Indicates some of the multiple ways in which complex adaptive systems may occur or be perceived; 
• Outlines a framework of thinking for complex adaptive systems management; and 
• Provides opportunity for readers' comments.

Multiple Perspectives of complex adaptive systems

The following list indicates the  the wide span  of  occurrence, and some of the different perspectives that can be considered in analysing and synthesising complex adaptive systems - (Click on list item):

• Typical features (in contrast to simple systems): >  
  • Incorporating many agents, each have varying degrees of autonomy, self interests and relationships; 
  • Interacting with a wide range of competing, adapting, influences and constraints; 
  • Subject to adaptation and uncertainty, internally as well as externally; 
  • Frequently not identifiable with precision; and 
  • Pursuing multiple conflicting objectives. 
• Spanning a range of organisational domains:  >  
  • Social domain - including social, ecological, economic interactions; 
  • Institutional domain  - including structures such as countries, races, governments, markets, alliances (both commercial and non-commercial & including political), and "guiding traditions" (religions and other movements); 
  • Organisational domain  - including entities such as companies, or associations; 
  • Business domain  - including business systems and processes, rights and obligations; 
  • Personal domain  - including individual preferences and behaviours; 
  • Object domain - including hardware and software facilities, components and systems; 
• Operating with different abstraction levels: >  
  • Physical or component level - including the separate devices, components and people that combine for particular purposes; 
  • Facilities level - including major assets, networks and resources, the the services they perform; 
  • Information level - including tacit and explicit knowledge; 
  • "Non-objective" level - including for example some aspects of personal relationships, human qualities, emotion and art;
• Life stages to be managed: >  
  • Operations  - covering all on-going, steady-state and transitional activities required to function in current circumstances; 
  • Change - covering change innovation conceptualisation and design, and projects planning, implementation, and controls; 
  • Transactions - covering contracts or other arrangements for  procuring and delivering resources, products and services, or other outcomes; 
  • Ownership - covering, accountability mechanisms, governance, risk and value management, capital structure.
• Benefits maximisation: >  
  • Alignment of multiple conflicting objectives; 
  • Satisfaction of specified requirements; 
  • Definition, recognition, creation  and capture of value under risk; 
  • Identification, analysis, and resolution of issues; 
  • Generation and evaluation of options; 
  • Implementable recommendations.

(Collapse List / Explode List)

A Framework for Thinking about Complex Adaptive Systems 

A system can be considered as a set of interacting components (which may themselves be sub-systems in a hierarchy) or elements (or agents) and interacts (through those components or elements) with the environment (also a  system) in which it functions. This outline addresses briefly: 

• What are complex adaptive systems?
• Where can complex adaptive systems thinking assist managers?
• What happens when complex adaptive systems thinking is ignored?

Complex adaptive systems

• System complexity describes the extent to which, there may be large numbers and multiple categories of elements or agents, and  interactions, a high density of interactions, many hierarchical levels, and high uncertainties.
• A system's adaptive property describes the extent to which, some or all of the elements or agents may have partial "autonomy" in the manner that they interact, and in their capacity to populate, enter and and exit  the system, and otherwise fit themselves to their environment.
• The behaviour of the complex adaptive system is characterised by the attributes of its agents and their interactions, such as:
  • High levels of non-linearity in the functions describing their attributes;
  • High diversity in attributes; and
  • Capacity for anticipating impacts (including benefits/dis-benefits) in interactions, recognising patterns in complex interactions and synthesising reactions to complex stimuli.

Complex adaptive system modelling contrasts with traditional engineering based or static models, by attempting to reflect "real world" behaviour and including people and their behaviours. Complex adaptive systems can have capacity to: 

• Organise themselves and their interactions with their environment; and
• Compete with other systems,  and adapt to their environment, the performance of their components and their interactions. 

In contrast to social and ecological systems, however, human-made systems need to be intentionally designed, and in order to survive in changing times, need to exhibit similar capabilities.

In conceptualising complex adaptive system models one typically constructs rule sets for the purpose of both: 

• Simplifying the model to focus conveniently on its key features; and
• Describing the components and interactions, and constraints on them. 

The describing rules may be strict or soft (i.e. generating rewards / sanctions).

Where can complex adaptive system thinking (CAST) assist managers?

CAST provides a multi-disciplinary framework for management.

Consideration of the characteristics of complex adaptive systems can assist in (indeed  arguably is essential for) understanding, then managing, for example:

• Organisational functioning in terms of:
  • Organisation structure design and performance measurement;
  • Design of contracts, transactions between organisations - e.g. in procurement, sales management, outsourcing; 
  • Design of interfaces within an organisation; 
  • Investment management and competitive strategy; 
  • Planning and operation of logistical and other support services; 
  • Responsibilities accountability and governance;
  • Values and culture;
• Assets and resources, including:
  • Knowledge management - deployment of knowledge resources 
  • Systems and procedures - design and implementation
  • Facilities and asset management generally
• Institutional and organisational behaviours:
  • International relationships and confrontation; 
  • Competition and behaviour of markets; 
  • Gaming,  behaviour, tacit collusion and moral hazards
  • Communications and propaganda programs;
  • Perverse / Opportunistic behaviour, including corruption, hidden agendas;
• Emergencies management, and self-healing processes;
• Formation and performance of self-managing teams, associations; 
• Political processes and public policy formation;
• Regulatory / legislative mechanisms and compliance programs; 
• Social and ecological systems; and
• Other behaviours and operations

It is our observation that CAST is most frequently applied in a partial and ad-hoc manner, often as a compliance obligation, rather than holistically for value maximising. It is intended that discussion to be added to this site over 2003 will demonstrate this view.

What can happen when complex adaptive systems behaviour is ignored in system design?

In all respects, sound planning, implementation, performance and control of organised human activity and associated systems should always take account of the characteristics inherent in complex adaptive systems. Failure to properly design for these characteristics can only promote poor performance resulting from such factors as:

• Organisation and inter-unit dysfunction, 
• Unclear responsibilities, lack of accountability poor governance, 
• Waste and duplication, 
• Inefficient deployment of resources, assets & infrastructure, 
• Information hoarding and manipulation, 
• Deficient culture, leadership, teamwork and morale, 
• Gaming & collusion,
• Perverse / Opportunistic behaviour, from hidden agendas through to corruption,
• Destructive conflict in customer service, contract management and human relations, 
• Inadequate preparedness for risk events and emergencies, non- compliance and loss of agility.

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