The Role of Chaos and Self-Organization in the Development of Creative Organizations

Drawing on chaos theory (transported from the physical sciences to social science issues), Stacey discusses the possibilities of moving away from 'equilibria' models of organisation to models that focus on nonlinear networks. He argues that the 'nonlinearity' of networks - e.g. the spontaneous relations formed between people, the irregular sharing of information, the informal learning processes that occur through interaction, etc - is precisely what makes networks such valuable sites for innovation. In formal institutions, the networks that form often function as 'shadow organisations' that creatively interpret and modify official strategies. More importantly, the informal networks continuously generate new and alternative strategies. Those unofficial strategies that survive and are picked up by various actors through the informal channels and networks, will normally after a time become institutionalised, thus making them official. This reinforces the control of the formal management and provides some stability. However, new unofficial ideas and responses will already be forming. Stacey argues that this constant interaction between stable organisational elements and unstable informal networks is vital if an organisation wishes to succeed.