Organizational Development: A Manual for Managers and ... - FPDL
Organizational Development: A Manual for Managers and ... - FPDL
Organizational Development: A Manual for Managers and ... - FPDL
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Self-emerging order<br />
Synergetics helps us to underst<strong>and</strong> that order in nature (<strong>and</strong> in human organizations, as they are<br />
also features of nature) emerges from natural consequences of interaction. “Correlation is what<br />
happens when two or more people exert an interactive influence one over another. Order emerges<br />
naturally because of unpredictable interaction – interaction is the vehicle by which it occurs <strong>and</strong><br />
unpredictability is the stimulus to promote novelty.” (R.Marion, 1999)<br />
Thus, the basic preconditions <strong>for</strong> a particular self-maintaining order to appear in a group are: 1)<br />
interdependence, <strong>and</strong> 2) unpredictable interaction. The unpredictability supposes a certain<br />
‘freedom of interaction’. At the same time, if elements are not interdependent – meaning each one<br />
depends on another – there is no clue to build a system. The group will remain a set of odd,<br />
isolated spices.<br />
For interactions to be fully predictable, links between elements must represent univocal<br />
correspondence <strong>and</strong> exclude any bifurcations. That means the structure is very hard <strong>and</strong> the<br />
temperature (fluctuation of elements <strong>and</strong> parameters) is considerably low. If the temperature rose<br />
– stochastic actions or fluctuation of elements would destroy this hard structure. But if<br />
interdependence remains even at a considerably high temperature, which would allow certain<br />
bounded chaos in the behaviour of single elements <strong>and</strong> ensure their coherence in the same time –<br />
then the order will appear. Preliminary design, consultants, OD experts or <strong>for</strong>mal regulations are<br />
not needed <strong>for</strong> this.<br />
Imagine a certain number of young hooligans, not educated, not recognizing any rules, hating any<br />
control over them, full of energy, etc. are brought together <strong>and</strong> locked in a single room. What would<br />
happen in a couple of weeks? Would they all kill each other? Probably not. Will total disorder result<br />
<strong>and</strong> continue over time? It is hardly possible, because it would take too much energy <strong>and</strong> create<br />
too dangerous an environment <strong>for</strong> everyone. What will happen then? Yes, an order will appear.<br />
No preliminary pattern, scheme or design is needed <strong>for</strong> this - just a miraculous combination of<br />
interdependence <strong>and</strong> freedom of elements.<br />
Helena Knyazeva gives a very simple <strong>and</strong> convincing example in the above-mentioned article:<br />
“I often happen to be in one of the overcrowded metro stations of Moscow. Each time I see a quite<br />
peculiar picture. Because of a rather disadvantageous planning of this station, two crowds are constantly<br />
confronting each other: those who enter the station <strong>and</strong> want to catch a train, arriving every 2 or 3 minutes,<br />
<strong>and</strong> those who go upstairs. What happens then? Each crowd spontaneously dissipates into two or three<br />
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