The Complexity Advantage

Author: Susanne Kelly, Mary Ann Allison
List Price: $24.95
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ISBN: 0070014000
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Professional (1999)
Sales Rank: 54,109
Average Customer Rating: 4 out of 5

Customer Reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5
Gaining competitive advantage through complexity science
This is a very clear presentation of a difficult topic-the relationship of the new field of complexity science to business. It is particularly useful for anyone who is thinking "Complexity science is interesting, but what are the implications for the real world." This book gets off to an outstanding start with the unit "The Main Point: Self-Organization." This indeed is the aspect of complexity science that has the most relevance for business. The authors also are to be commended for being the first book that I know of to relate the concept of memes to the question of how to use complexity science to improve organizations. (According to the Oxford English Dictionary a meme is "an element of a culture that may be considered to be passed on by non-genetic means, esp. imitation." For more information on memes, enter "memetics" in the subject search box on amazon.com.) However, I would have liked to have seen an expanded discussion of memes. I believe the authors missed the opportunity to use the concept of memes to clarify the distinction between the old way of managing and the new way that they espouse. Traditional approaches to management are based on a meme set that can be traced back through Newton to Aristotle. The new approach to management that they recommend is grounded in a new meme set provided by complexity science. The authors initial focus on self-organization is capped-off with an equally brilliant section on "Reducing the Artificial, Designated Power Hierarchy and Enabling Natural Organization." However, the "lists of steps" in the middle chapters are somewhat overdone and in my opinion detract from the main thrust of their book. I'm afraid the casual reader may not fully grasp the importance of what the authors are saying: The traditional organizational hierarchy, in all of its MBA-ish splendor, is essentially unnatural. For it is complexity science, especially self-organized groups, which offers a natural approach to management. No one, in my opinion, has demonstrated they really know how to execute this new perspective within a major organization. The authors' approach is as good as it gets, and it has a real-world feel that is better than that of British complexity science guru Ralph Stacey (Complexity and Creativity in Organizations) or the American gura Margaret Wheatley (Leadership and the New Science). What is clear is that those organizations that figure out how to manage naturally will have a substantial competitive advantage over those who use artificial, unnatural approaches.

Rating: 4 out of 5
Good information, how to implement?
Don't get me wrong, I like the book. It is just that it is difficult to translate it into an initiative. Even if I ask members of the team who need to understand the concept and come up with ways to advance the concept, we will be spending time on "I don't understand this line here". My point is that the writing seems to be targeted to the decision-makers who are well-educated or well-read but it would be simply too difficult for the actual implementers - middle managers, task leaders, team members, etc. This is even more apparent at the global scene where English is the second or third language. This is probably why I can buy the brand new hardcopy on sale at a cheap price and the stack remains tall for many days (no one else is buying it).

Rating: 5 out of 5
"The best business plan is only a best guess"
"Your business comprises self-organizing systems whether you know it or like it. You can cut costs and improve profits dramatically by learning to work with these systems rather than against them. So, what is self-organization and how does it work?...In this book," Susanne Kelly and Mary Ann Allison write, "we build on complexity science to explain and apply the principles of self-organization to business and organizational behavior. We discuss the enterprise environment and energy that leaders must provide to generate the power and precision of laser-sharp business performance"(p.4).

In this context, in Chapter 1, after defining complexity science and complexity advantage, they argue that "Complexity advantage companies address today's transition in business-plagued by rapid change and increasing uncertainty. For approximately a century our manufacturing model was comparatively stable...The Information Age has turned previous 'knowns' upside-down...The best business plan is only a best guess." And hence they summarize the old and new business paradigms as following:

I. Manufacturing Age Business

* Game: Bulk-material manufacturing.

* Goal: Commodity product.

* Domain: Regional.

* Future: Predictability, deterministic.

* Change Periodic nuance, steady rate, digestable.

* Rules: Linear cause and effect.

* Game plan:Five-year strategic plans.

* Leader: Manages strategic plan to end state.

* Ownership: Centralized decision-making and responsibility.

* Challenge: Demand versus capacity to deliver.

* Resources: Material and financial capital.

* Risk: Moving too quickly-out of control.

* Approach: Quality, low cost of production. Branding, emergent price standards. Diminishing returns.

* Role of Team: Optimizing of quality and productivity. Application of raw energy. Repetitive day-to-day operations. Processing of resources.

* Process Perspective: Parts interact in sequence of steps. End-to-end effiency key, standardization the answer.

II. Information Age Business

* Game: Design and use of technology.

* Goal: Knowledge-based products.

* Domain: Global.

* Future: Uncertainty, probability, possibility.

* Change: Way of life - accelerating, overwhelming.

* Rules: Nonlinear complex interaction.

* Game Plan: Three-year probability scenarios.

* Leader: Envisions and coaches on direction.

* Ownership: Distributed decision-making and responsibility.

* Challenge: Demand versus capacity for change.

* Resources: Human, social, or intellectual capital.

* Risk: Moving too slowly-out of the running.

* Approach: Be first-best if possible, high-cost R&D. Market lock-on, high margins. Increasing returns.

* Role of Team: Quality:productivity:adaptability. Application of ideas. Quest for innovation. Processing of information.

* Process Perspective: Whole emerges from interacting parts. Micro-to macrointegrity key, feedback the answer.

Finally, they write that "By the way, if you are part of a start-up or a small-to-medium-sized business, don't be fooled by the adjective global. Today, satellite communications, the Internet, and air transport move information, materials, products, and people rapidly from place to place. All of us are now connected through a global market comprising mail-order customers and suppliers, supply chain partnership, and international franchise competition. Even our local pizza parior has installed a fax machine and is designing a Web site. They must compete not only with the deli down the street, but also with global fast-food chains such as McDonald's, Burger King, and Pizza Hut. Without the complexity advantage, they risk the fate of dinosaurs."

Highly recommended.



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