List: Complexity & Innovation | Curated by Marcus Guest

Jul 26, 2021
31 stories
Complexity & Innovation
Marcus Guest
Learning to See, Pay Attention & ActA common assumption in organisations is that if you put the right information in front of the right people at the right time they will make…
Dec 18, 2017
Dec 18, 2017
Marcus Guest
Unacceptable Causal ExplanationsOverwhelmed by complexity people look for single causes to explain why the unexplainable has occurred. For example, since the 2016 US…
Apr 18, 2017
Apr 18, 2017
Marcus Guest
Mushy Bags of Irrationality & EmotionIn an uncertain world ⁠[1] human beings are the most unpredictable element. Good market researchers have long known that consumers don’t…
Apr 20, 2017
Apr 20, 2017
Marcus Guest
Working With How People Really AreOrganisations replicate military structures. A general sits atop a hierarchy focused on strategy, supported by lieutenants responsible for…
Apr 24, 2017
Apr 24, 2017
Marcus Guest
The Problematic Storytelling Ape“There is no difference between a terrorist, a citizen, an employee and a consumer — all represent the problem of asymmetry in which an…
Apr 26, 2017
Apr 26, 2017
Marcus Guest
Making Sense of UncertaintyIntelligence isn’t unique to humans, yet human intelligence is unique. Faced with a novelty, a situation full of uncertainty, we’re able to…
May 2, 2017
May 2, 2017
Marcus Guest
Storming Medieval InstitutionsThe world is flipping on its axes. ‘Rigorous top-down’ management systems that dominated the 20th century — treating workers first as cogs…
May 11, 2017
May 11, 2017
Marcus Guest
Triggering NoveltyHumans think and act autonomically: you touch something hot and quickly withdraw your hand without thinking; or arrive home from your…
May 16, 2017
May 16, 2017
Marcus Guest
Nothing Happens in the Same Way Twice“Every problem interacts with other problems and is therefore part of a set of interrelated problems, a system of problems…. I choose to…
May 18, 2017
May 18, 2017
Marcus Guest
‘God Gave Physics the Easy Problems’A friend’s recent blog [⁠1] posed an interesting question:
May 23, 2017
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May 23, 2017
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Marcus Guest
Survival of the Best ConnectedQuantum mechanics challenged physics orthodoxy — sub-atomic particles were not ‘things’ but ‘interconnections between things’ meaning the…
May 30, 2017
May 30, 2017
Marcus Guest
Riding the Waves of ChangeA central question in philosophy is whether things merely evolve or if true novelty is really possible. Is anything really unique or is all…
Jun 13, 2017
Jun 13, 2017
Marcus Guest
Seeking the Truth of the PositionDarwinism is less ’survival of the fittest’ and more ’survival of those best adapted to their particular environment’. It’s a less catchy…
Jun 20, 2017
Jun 20, 2017
Marcus Guest
The End of Certainty and the Rise of Wicked ProblemsIn Newtonian physics the universe was thought to obey constant, fundamental laws but relativity theory and quantum mechanics shook this…
Jun 27, 2017
Jun 27, 2017
Marcus Guest
Your Organisation’s Greatest Untapped CapacityZero-tolerance suppression was the only policy the experts at the US National Parks Service had to deal with its number one enemy — fire…
Jul 5, 2017
Jul 5, 2017
Marcus Guest
Harnessing the Evolutionary Potential of the PresentIn business — as in nature — we face three types of challenges:
Jul 11, 2017
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Jul 11, 2017
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Marcus Guest
When No Wind is FavourableExperts are often bashed with the old adage — ‘if the only tool you have is a hammer then every problem looks like a nail’ — because it’s a…
Jul 18, 2017
Jul 18, 2017
Marcus Guest
Keep Moving, Seek the High Ground, Stay in TouchEcosystems are ever-fluctuating networks of actors who become stressed when they lack the flexibility to adapt to change which, ironically…
Jul 24, 2017
Jul 24, 2017
Marcus Guest
The Best Model of Adaptive Change You’ve Never Heard ofNearly all theories of change management owe a debt to Kurt Lewin — the ‘founding father of change management’. Lewin’s model of change…
Jul 31, 2017
Jul 31, 2017
Marcus Guest
“With Enough Eyeballs All Bugs are Shallow”“When you think you know, there is no reason to pay attention” — Ellen Langer
Aug 6, 2017
Aug 6, 2017