To further the application of Stu Kauffman's research to organisational
design challenges, I'd like to add a piece.
To the extent that the problem or challenge being faced is simple, to the
extent that the space of possibility to be explored is small, to that
extent it works to have singular, central control or a few very large
teams.
To the extent that conditions are the opposite, the independent actions of
intelligent agents are needed. In these cases, the best solution is many
small and independent teams working on the same problem or bits of the
problem without much connection between teams.
This seems counterintuitive for management. If the problem is difficult,
the tendency is to centralise control. The research of Stu and SFI
indicates that the opposite is the case.
-- Michael McMaster Michael@kbddean.demon.co.uk