David Peat

148 From Certainty to Uncertaintytensions and conflicts within the organization that compromised itsefficiency. It was no surprise to learn that, well over a century earlier,the company had been founded by two brothers at a time when theircountry was involved in civil war. It is as if some sort of memory wasoperating within the organization, a type of attractor that created dualismand division.In such cases, feedback loops have become fixed and do not readjustto new circumstances. Likewise, iterations continue to flowthroughout the system to support a set of fixed responses. Like a humanheart that exhibits too much order in its rhythms, these systemshave become overly rigid and no longer embrace the creative side ofchaos. Maybe at some time in the past when the economic, business, orpolitical environment changed, that organization closed itself off fromthe full potential of the outside world to the point where it now onlyengages the marketplace in a limited number of strategies.On the other hand, as with any living organism, an organizationmay have a natural lifetime. Some wither and die. Others occupy a sortof fossilized position in the marketplace, like one of those curious animalsfound in odd ecological niches of the world. They may still bemaking money, yet generate little satisfaction for those who workwithin their walls. The organization simply “isn’t going anywhere,” andso workers become indifferent to its goals.It is also true that an organization can undergo a radical form ofrenewal. It can grow creatively. It can accept the challenge of a changingworld and employ the creativity of its employees to the full. But ifsuch an organization wishes to adjust, learn, grow, and renew itself, itmust be willing to go through a period of reorganization. This maymean opening up the feedback loops, changing the pathways wherebyinformation and meaning circulate around the organization, maybeeven changing the way computer systems, rooms, corridors, workhours, meeting rooms, and the like are structured. To carry out thisrenewal, the organization will have to face an initial period of chaos.Many people fear chaos because for them it means lack of control.Familiar routines may become disrupted. New relationships will haveto be made. People may be required to learn new tasks, and a variety offormal and informal groups may have to be reorganized.