Organizations as Architectures for Complexity — with Joe Norman

Podcast Notes

In this episode we’re having a boundaryless conversation with Joe Norman, applied complexity scientist, data scientist, and homesteader living in New Hampshire, US. Joe is researching systemic risk and precaution in large-scale systems and explores strategies for uncertainty, complex systems engineering, pattern formation in biological and social systems. Joe’s work brings amazon insights to creating new organizational development models that could be better equipped to deal with the asymmetric risk factors that we foresee these days, in light of a rising complexity of the human society and of the destabilization of its support systems.

We talk about decentralization and localism as a way to deflate such risks while changing the landscape of organising and influencing its salience. Joe underlines the importance of tackling challenges at the appropriate scale, applying a multi-scale variety lens. Our conversation further points in the direction of systemic health-embeddedness and the principle of subsidiarity and the precautionary principle as providing adequate constraints, rather than directions, for systems to evolve.

To find out more about Joe’s work:

• Joe’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/normonics
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: http://jwnorman.com/

Other mentions and references:

• Balaji Srinivasan On The Argument For Decentralization — Part 1, Pomp Podcast #295: https://youtu.be/SU6H-5kA0FA
• Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture:,https://www.amazon.com/Unsettling-America-Culture-Agriculture/dp/0871568772
• Find out more about the show and the research at Boundaryless at https://boundaryless.io/resources/podcast/
• Thanks for the ad-hoc music to Liosound / Walter Mobilio. Find his portfolio here: www.platformdesigntoolkit.com/music

Recorded on May 25th 2020

Key Insights

1. Unpredictability rises due to the hyperconnected nature of our human systems and the small world dynamics generated — as we’ve seen with the pandemics — a return towards localism and decentralization is not only useful to deflate the risk generation functions but — as a side effect — will likely reorient the salience landscape of organising in unpredictable ways that will impact value perception in consumption, production and design.

2. Rather than directing the evolution of complex systems, principles for “architecting” organisations for complexity can set the appropriate conditions: the precautionary principle, subsidiary and health as a key driving principle are emerging as key candidates.

3. A multi-scale variety lens can help to conceive responses to challenges at the appropriate scale. Looking at cascading risks, these can be more managed locally and contextually to prevent them from scaling pathologically. A problem in our current political landscape is that many systemic risks are managed centrally, with risk of exponential, large-scale impact. In response, we’re thus seeing a re-decentralisation of power that had been gradually centralised through human made systems in the industrial age.

? Boundaryless Conversations Podcast is about exploring the future of large scale organising by leveraging on technology, network effects and shaping narratives. We explore how platforms can help us play with a world in turmoil, change, and transformation: a world that is at the same time more interconnected and interdependent than ever but also more conflictual and rivalrous.