Resources and Links Related to Self-Organizing Meetings
The science of complexity, specifically involving complex adaptive systems, has opened some new doors of thought with regard to the design group planning and problem solving events. Ants build nests, collect food, care for their young and defend their colonies all without central direction or control. Complex ecosystems like rain forests and coral reefs have no central controller. A flock of birds has no leader—flocking is an example of self-organization. Even most of the functioning of the human body—despite the seeming control of our brains—is self-organizing. There is control, but no central controller. The world of meeting design and facilitation lags this thinking for the most part. Between the facilitator and the group’s leader, there is little or no self-organization. People are generally told what the agenda will be, their behavior is modified by the facilitator, and while they may sometimes choose what small team they will work on, they rarely choose what the topic of the work will be.
What follows are links to resources and additional information about Self-Organizing meetings.
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Theory
Self-organization is a process of attraction and repulsion in which the internal organization of a system, normally an open system, increases in complexity without being guided or managed by an outside source. Self-organizing systems typically (though not always) display emergent properties.
Emergent Behavior: In philosophy, systems theory and the sciences, emergence refers to the way complex systems and patterns arise out of a multiplicity of relatively simple interactions. Like intelligence in the field of AI, or agents in distributed artificial intelligence, emergence is central to the theory of complex systems and yet very controversial.
The Science of Self-Organization and Adaptivity by Francis Heylighen. The theory of self-organization and adaptivity has grown out of a variety of disciplines, including thermodynamics, cybernetics and computer modelling. The present article reviews its most important concepts and principles.
Complex adaptive systems are special cases of complex systems. They are complex in that they are diverse and made up of multiple interconnected elements and adaptive in that they have the capacity to change and learn from experience. The term complex adaptive systems (CAS) was coined at the interdisciplinary Santa Fe Institute (SFI), by John H. Holland, Murray Gell-Mann and others.
John Holland on Emergence
John Holland answered viewer questions about the concept of emergence on July 16, 2007. One of the world's leading experts on emergence, John Holland is a professor of Psychology as well as of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan. He is also an external professor and member of the Board of Trustees at the Santa Fe Institute, a MacArthur Fellow, and a Fellow of the World Economic Forum. His two most recent books are Emergence: From Chaos to Order (Oxford University Press, 2000) and Hidden Order: How Adaptation Builds Complexity (Helix Books, 1996). Forty-nine students have received Ph.D.'s under his guidance.
Genetic algorithms are one of the best ways to solve a problem for which little is known. They are a very general algorithm and so will work well in any search space. All you need to know is what you need the solution to be able to do well, and a genetic algorithm will be able to create a high quality solution. Genetic algorithms use the principles of selection and evolution to produce several solutions to a given problem.
Complexity: A single-page description of the 'world' of complexity and related ideas hosted by the Center for the Study of Complex Systems at the University of Michigan.
Processes
OpenSpaceWorldNET in an open workspace, intended to show the practice of OST. It is intended as a compliment to OpenSpaceWorldORG which "tells" about the practice of OST. This is open, community workspace. We invite you have a look around and to use this space for your own work, guide its direction, and help keep it tidy as it grows!
Bohmian Dialogue: ...it is proposed that a form of free dialogue may well be one of the most effective ways of investigating the crisis which faces society, and indeed the whole of human nature and consciousness today. Moreover, it may turn out that such a form of free exchange of ideas and information is of fundamental relevance for transforming culture and freeing it of destructive misinformation, so that creativity can be liberated."
Spirit Cirlces: At this time of global emergence and possibility, we offer these basic guidelines to anyone who wishes to call people into council. Now more than ever, the circle may serve us as a form that honors all voices and invites wisdom into our midst. Now more than ever, the circle offers the human community an interpersonal gathering point inside which we may courageously listen to each other, speak our truths, and act with clear intention.
