The Organic Development Philosophy - Part One: Systems

Organic Development has grown rapidly over the past few years. We’ve hired new people, gained new clients and moved to new offices. That’s a lot of changes in a relatively short amount of time. One of the things that has contributed to this continuing success is our philosophy. And that hasn’t changed a bit. We want to explain in more detail to give you a better idea of how Organic Development works. So, are you ready to get philosophical?

We believe in 2 simple, powerful ideas:

1. Any interconnected group of people can be described as a Complex Adaptive Network.
2. Digital tools can help Complex Adaptive Networks function more efficiently and effectively.

These ideas define why we work and how we work.

In this post, we’ll focus on the first idea, and try to answer the following questions: What is a network? What is a Complex Adaptive Network? How does it relate to what we do?

What is a Network?
Simply put, a network is a group of interconnected nodes. Depending on the type of network, these nodes can be anything from people to computers to  financial institutions:

What is a Complex Adaptive Network?
At Organic Development, we’re most interested in a specific type of network. Complex Adaptive Networks (CANs). The name’s impressive, but the definition is dead simple: CANs are non-hierarchical networks developed and inhabited by people. Because people are organic and adaptable, CANs are organic and adaptable too.

You can spot a CAN a mile off if you know what you’re looking for. Here’s a handy feature list so you can identify them easily:

They Emerge
CANs come about spontaneously. You can design a space for the network to develop in, but you can’t design the network itself.

They Co-evolve
A CAN develops in dialogue with its nodes. The network adapts according to the people within it, whilst at the same time, the people adapt their behaviour to fit into the network.

They Self-organise
Nodes do not occupy prescribed positions within CANs. They can shift between different roles as the network changes.

The most important feature of Complex Adaptive Networks is the fact that their survival depends entirely on connections between nodes. If there were no connections, the CAN would not be a system, but a collection of disparate elements (think of a tree without branches). CANs vary hugely in terms of size, complexity, and function, but one thing is true in every single instance:

Connections between nodes rely on COMMUNICATION

We can’t stress this enough.

OK, now that you have an idea of what a Complex Adaptive Network is. Next post, we’ll explain where WE, and most importantly, YOU fit in.