Creative Management of Complex Systems

1Introduction: Why Do We Talk About Complexity in Management?

The subject of this work is the management of organizations in contexts that are characterized by strong systemic complexity. We wish to show that this type of management can nevertheless be creative in the sense that it necessarily evades linear thought. This way of thinking can be adapted for complicated problems, but not for complex ones. In the former, the application of causal reasoning and optimization methods enables us to arrive at the correct response for a properly asked question (even though this requires a great deal of calculations). In the latter case, it is an illusory wish to establish a precise and exhaustive model of reality and risks as we would be dealing with an emergent process, and we must be content with initiating the processes and performing experiments on both means and ends. The essence of life is in complexity, as shown by philosopher Edgar Morin – particularly in dialogue with economist and systemic specialist Jean-Louis Le Moigne (Le Moigne and Morin 1999). If an organization is to be considered living – i.e. evolving, dialectic, partially unpredictable and thus difficult to manage according to strategic planning formulas – then it requires exploring alternative management styles and thinking outside the box, hence the introduction of the concept of creativity. The subject of management is living, thus creative, which obligates management to perform in a different way.

Complexity and ...