NETSOL: New Trends in Social and Liberal Sciences, 2019
In the book where he coined the term "Axial Age", Karl Jaspers noted that human history included ... more In the book where he coined the term "Axial Age", Karl Jaspers noted that human history included both "tranquil ages" and "ages of change". This paper begins with the observation that this oscillation between stable and transformational periods encapsulates the pattern in complexity theory by which systems oscillate between relatively long "stable states" and shorter "phase transitions". Applying this pattern, the coauthors speculate that human history has undergone three such "axial" phase transitions-the Neolithic Revolution, the Axial Age, and Modernity. During each of these periods, the older dominant social structures proved inadequate, as populations grew, new technologies appeared, and new social conflicts became more intense. To meet these challenges, people in the societies where these transformations occurred became more innovative, exploring new ways to use recently developed technologies and introducing a variety of social experiments. By the end of these ages of change, new social structures would become dominant across Eurasia. Today, Modernity, as the third axial age, seems to be coming to an end, making this pattern a valuable tool for understanding our world.
In this essay, we use the word " processual, " the adjectival form of " process, " to mean " rela... more In this essay, we use the word " processual, " the adjectival form of " process, " to mean " relating to or involving the study of processes rather than discrete events ". Understanding this processual model is critical for readers of this journal because, in many ways, Complexity Theory studies the patterns that emerge as phenomena evolve in a processual world. And, so, in this essay, we want to examine how using the tools of complexity thinking enabled us to recognize how fundamental a processual model is to understanding the globalized world culture now developing. To do so, we shall, first, explain the emerging processual worldview and contrast it to the older mechanical view, then discuss how we used complexity tools to recognize this worldview, and conclude with some comments on the insights that emerged from viewing the world this way.
Complexity theory offers a powerful model for effective mergers of health care organizations that... more Complexity theory offers a powerful model for effective mergers of health care organizations that differs substantially from customary approaches. Exploring how Deaconess Billings Clinic in Montana evolved from two separate and very different cultures provides insight into how organizations can apply a complex adaptive system (CAS) model of mergers to create more truly integrated health care systems. DBC's merger illustrates the phenomenon of emergence in complex systems, whereby structures arise that are not a synthesis of the pre-existing cultures or the result of a new culture being imposed. Instead, the merger is understood as an ongoing, self-organizing process appropriately characterized by fits and starts, feelings of uncertainty, and other natural challenges of change and growth. By squarely surfacing the distinct cultures of the organizations through abundant interaction, relationship building, and information flow, differences can be creatively transformed, resulting in deep-seated change and the emergence of a genuine, shared health care system culture.
Applying the principles of complexity thinking to the study of history suggests a methodology ver... more Applying the principles of complexity thinking to the study of history suggests a methodology very much like Foucault's approach, especially in such works as 'The Order of Things' or 'Birth of the Clinic'. This essay begins to sketch out such a complexity-oriented understanding of history, beginning with a discussion of the world depicted in complexity thinking and the concept of 'storied spaces' as the human equivalent of the complexity principle of 'complex adaptive systems'. Relying on Foucault's work, the essay examines a conception of history as the study of the emergence and evolution of social storied spaces, such as episteme, discourse, and organizational culture, then exploring Axial Age and post-Axial Age China, and Western civilizations to illustrate how this complexity-oriented conception of history plays out. The essay concludes with a brief discussion of some of this theory's implications.
Is it legitimate to examine human social systems in terms of the principles of complexity thinkin... more Is it legitimate to examine human social systems in terms of the principles of complexity thinking? Stacey (2001), for one, says no. This essay explores the possibility that one can employ the principles of complexity by substituting the idea of "storied spaces" for complexity's complex adaptive systems. From this point of view, one can think of human social life as an intricate nested network of spaces-family and work group, organization and community, profession and nation-in which membership depends on the acceptance of negotiated stories by which each grouping defines the nature of the world and how people in the group must respond to prosper. Each such storied space affects its members' behavior through an interplay between its historically grounded dominant narrative, such as national culture, and the antenarrative stories people in it tell as they try to cope with emerging phenomenon. This interplay creates a network of interpretation, meaning and knowledge that characterizes any human grouping. As a specific example, the essay examines what it would mean to look at business organizations as storied spaces, considering particularly how such a theory of organization explains differences between AT&T and 3M.
“Throughout human history, perhaps even pre-human, there has been a tension between the need for ... more “Throughout human history, perhaps even pre-human, there has been a tension between the need for order and the forces that cause change. That tension is greater now than ever, because, in our increasingly globalized world, the rate of change is also increasing. This book finally explains how we can cope: we have stories. We live our narratives.” Brian Spooner, University of Pennsylvania, is editor of Globalization: The Crucial Phase and Literacy in the Persianate World: Writing and the Social Order "The idea that Axial Ages occurred, and that they provide warnings/opportunities for us today, seems both new and useful. But the value of this book is additional to this stance, in that it looks at cultural change - civilizations - from a complexity viewpoint. These changes are certainly complicated, but the pressures are interwoven and therefore need to be understood as complex. The book does a good job of explaining our present cultural difficulties - our prospective emergencies s...
Applying the principles of complexity thinking to the study of his- tory suggests a methodology v... more Applying the principles of complexity thinking to the study of his- tory suggests a methodology very much like Foucault's approach, especially in such works as 'The Order of Things' or 'Birth of the Clinic'. This essay begins to sketch out such a complexity-oriented understanding of history, beginning with a discussion of the world depicted in complexity thinking and the concept of 'storied spaces' as the human equivalent of the complexity principle of 'complex adaptive systems'. Relying on Foucault's work, the essay examines a conception of history as the study of the emergence and evolution of social storied spaces, such as episteme, discourse, and organiza- tional culture, then exploring Axial Age and post-Axial Age China, and Western civilizations to illustrate how this complexity-oriented conception of history plays out. The essay concludes with a brief discussion of some of this theory's implications.
Is it legitimate to examine human social systems in terms of the principles of complexity thinkin... more Is it legitimate to examine human social systems in terms of the principles of complexity thinking? Stacey (2001), for one, says no. This essay explores the possibility that one can employ the principles of complexity by substituting the idea of "storied spaces" for complexity's complex adaptive systems. From this point of view, one can think of human social life as an intricate nested network of spaces-family and work group, organization and community, profession and nation-in which membership depends on the acceptance of negotiated stories by which each grouping defines the nature of the world and how people in the group must respond to prosper. Each such storied space affects its members' behavior through an interplay between its historically grounded dominant narrative, such as national culture, and the antenarrative stories people in it tell as they try to cope with emerging phenomenon. This interplay creates a network of interpretation, meaning and knowledge that characterizes any human grouping. As a specific example, the essay examines what it would mean to look at business organizations as storied spaces, considering particularly how such a theory of organization explains differences between AT&T and 3M.
Purpose – To explore how selected principles of Chinese philosophy and complexity theory can be s... more Purpose – To explore how selected principles of Chinese philosophy and complexity theory can be synthesized into a model for human and organizational behavior that is more accurate and appropriate to global markets than either traditional eastern or western models. Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents a model of human and organizational behavior based on similarities between elements of Chinese philosophy
... Rites vs rights: maintaining social order in China and the West. ... Ken Baskin, Life Design ... more ... Rites vs rights: maintaining social order in China and the West. ... Ken Baskin, Life Design Partners, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. ... such high cultures (Watts, 1975, p. 11) appear to emerge partly in response to periods of crisis China, Israel, Greece, and India during the Axial ...
... The Authors. Ken Baskin, Institute for the Study of Coherence and Emergence, Philadelphia, Pe... more ... The Authors. Ken Baskin, Institute for the Study of Coherence and Emergence, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. ... Keyword(s): China; Organizations; Managerialism; Philosophy; Emergent strategy; Newtonian; Post-Newtonian; Actor-network theory; Dao; Wu-wei; Unmanaging. ...
NETSOL: New Trends in Social and Liberal Sciences, 2019
In the book where he coined the term "Axial Age", Karl Jaspers noted that human history included ... more In the book where he coined the term "Axial Age", Karl Jaspers noted that human history included both "tranquil ages" and "ages of change". This paper begins with the observation that this oscillation between stable and transformational periods encapsulates the pattern in complexity theory by which systems oscillate between relatively long "stable states" and shorter "phase transitions". Applying this pattern, the coauthors speculate that human history has undergone three such "axial" phase transitions-the Neolithic Revolution, the Axial Age, and Modernity. During each of these periods, the older dominant social structures proved inadequate, as populations grew, new technologies appeared, and new social conflicts became more intense. To meet these challenges, people in the societies where these transformations occurred became more innovative, exploring new ways to use recently developed technologies and introducing a variety of social experiments. By the end of these ages of change, new social structures would become dominant across Eurasia. Today, Modernity, as the third axial age, seems to be coming to an end, making this pattern a valuable tool for understanding our world.
In this essay, we use the word " processual, " the adjectival form of " process, " to mean " rela... more In this essay, we use the word " processual, " the adjectival form of " process, " to mean " relating to or involving the study of processes rather than discrete events ". Understanding this processual model is critical for readers of this journal because, in many ways, Complexity Theory studies the patterns that emerge as phenomena evolve in a processual world. And, so, in this essay, we want to examine how using the tools of complexity thinking enabled us to recognize how fundamental a processual model is to understanding the globalized world culture now developing. To do so, we shall, first, explain the emerging processual worldview and contrast it to the older mechanical view, then discuss how we used complexity tools to recognize this worldview, and conclude with some comments on the insights that emerged from viewing the world this way.
Complexity theory offers a powerful model for effective mergers of health care organizations that... more Complexity theory offers a powerful model for effective mergers of health care organizations that differs substantially from customary approaches. Exploring how Deaconess Billings Clinic in Montana evolved from two separate and very different cultures provides insight into how organizations can apply a complex adaptive system (CAS) model of mergers to create more truly integrated health care systems. DBC's merger illustrates the phenomenon of emergence in complex systems, whereby structures arise that are not a synthesis of the pre-existing cultures or the result of a new culture being imposed. Instead, the merger is understood as an ongoing, self-organizing process appropriately characterized by fits and starts, feelings of uncertainty, and other natural challenges of change and growth. By squarely surfacing the distinct cultures of the organizations through abundant interaction, relationship building, and information flow, differences can be creatively transformed, resulting in deep-seated change and the emergence of a genuine, shared health care system culture.
Applying the principles of complexity thinking to the study of history suggests a methodology ver... more Applying the principles of complexity thinking to the study of history suggests a methodology very much like Foucault's approach, especially in such works as 'The Order of Things' or 'Birth of the Clinic'. This essay begins to sketch out such a complexity-oriented understanding of history, beginning with a discussion of the world depicted in complexity thinking and the concept of 'storied spaces' as the human equivalent of the complexity principle of 'complex adaptive systems'. Relying on Foucault's work, the essay examines a conception of history as the study of the emergence and evolution of social storied spaces, such as episteme, discourse, and organizational culture, then exploring Axial Age and post-Axial Age China, and Western civilizations to illustrate how this complexity-oriented conception of history plays out. The essay concludes with a brief discussion of some of this theory's implications.
Is it legitimate to examine human social systems in terms of the principles of complexity thinkin... more Is it legitimate to examine human social systems in terms of the principles of complexity thinking? Stacey (2001), for one, says no. This essay explores the possibility that one can employ the principles of complexity by substituting the idea of "storied spaces" for complexity's complex adaptive systems. From this point of view, one can think of human social life as an intricate nested network of spaces-family and work group, organization and community, profession and nation-in which membership depends on the acceptance of negotiated stories by which each grouping defines the nature of the world and how people in the group must respond to prosper. Each such storied space affects its members' behavior through an interplay between its historically grounded dominant narrative, such as national culture, and the antenarrative stories people in it tell as they try to cope with emerging phenomenon. This interplay creates a network of interpretation, meaning and knowledge that characterizes any human grouping. As a specific example, the essay examines what it would mean to look at business organizations as storied spaces, considering particularly how such a theory of organization explains differences between AT&T and 3M.
“Throughout human history, perhaps even pre-human, there has been a tension between the need for ... more “Throughout human history, perhaps even pre-human, there has been a tension between the need for order and the forces that cause change. That tension is greater now than ever, because, in our increasingly globalized world, the rate of change is also increasing. This book finally explains how we can cope: we have stories. We live our narratives.” Brian Spooner, University of Pennsylvania, is editor of Globalization: The Crucial Phase and Literacy in the Persianate World: Writing and the Social Order "The idea that Axial Ages occurred, and that they provide warnings/opportunities for us today, seems both new and useful. But the value of this book is additional to this stance, in that it looks at cultural change - civilizations - from a complexity viewpoint. These changes are certainly complicated, but the pressures are interwoven and therefore need to be understood as complex. The book does a good job of explaining our present cultural difficulties - our prospective emergencies s...
Applying the principles of complexity thinking to the study of his- tory suggests a methodology v... more Applying the principles of complexity thinking to the study of his- tory suggests a methodology very much like Foucault's approach, especially in such works as 'The Order of Things' or 'Birth of the Clinic'. This essay begins to sketch out such a complexity-oriented understanding of history, beginning with a discussion of the world depicted in complexity thinking and the concept of 'storied spaces' as the human equivalent of the complexity principle of 'complex adaptive systems'. Relying on Foucault's work, the essay examines a conception of history as the study of the emergence and evolution of social storied spaces, such as episteme, discourse, and organiza- tional culture, then exploring Axial Age and post-Axial Age China, and Western civilizations to illustrate how this complexity-oriented conception of history plays out. The essay concludes with a brief discussion of some of this theory's implications.
Is it legitimate to examine human social systems in terms of the principles of complexity thinkin... more Is it legitimate to examine human social systems in terms of the principles of complexity thinking? Stacey (2001), for one, says no. This essay explores the possibility that one can employ the principles of complexity by substituting the idea of "storied spaces" for complexity's complex adaptive systems. From this point of view, one can think of human social life as an intricate nested network of spaces-family and work group, organization and community, profession and nation-in which membership depends on the acceptance of negotiated stories by which each grouping defines the nature of the world and how people in the group must respond to prosper. Each such storied space affects its members' behavior through an interplay between its historically grounded dominant narrative, such as national culture, and the antenarrative stories people in it tell as they try to cope with emerging phenomenon. This interplay creates a network of interpretation, meaning and knowledge that characterizes any human grouping. As a specific example, the essay examines what it would mean to look at business organizations as storied spaces, considering particularly how such a theory of organization explains differences between AT&T and 3M.
Purpose – To explore how selected principles of Chinese philosophy and complexity theory can be s... more Purpose – To explore how selected principles of Chinese philosophy and complexity theory can be synthesized into a model for human and organizational behavior that is more accurate and appropriate to global markets than either traditional eastern or western models. Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents a model of human and organizational behavior based on similarities between elements of Chinese philosophy
... Rites vs rights: maintaining social order in China and the West. ... Ken Baskin, Life Design ... more ... Rites vs rights: maintaining social order in China and the West. ... Ken Baskin, Life Design Partners, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. ... such high cultures (Watts, 1975, p. 11) appear to emerge partly in response to periods of crisis China, Israel, Greece, and India during the Axial ...
... The Authors. Ken Baskin, Institute for the Study of Coherence and Emergence, Philadelphia, Pe... more ... The Authors. Ken Baskin, Institute for the Study of Coherence and Emergence, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. ... Keyword(s): China; Organizations; Managerialism; Philosophy; Emergent strategy; Newtonian; Post-Newtonian; Actor-network theory; Dao; Wu-wei; Unmanaging. ...
The Axial Age (800-200 BCE), first described by Karl Jaspers, was characterized (among other impo... more The Axial Age (800-200 BCE), first described by Karl Jaspers, was characterized (among other important changes) by accelerating technological innovation, political instability, intensified warfare (as an outcome of general intercultural interaction intensification), and the emergence of new spiritual conceptualizations in four largely separated civilizations: Greece, Israel, India and China. The result was a transformation in the nature of these civilizations, including the rise of the “national” state and the spiritual traditions that continue to dominate contemporary life throughout most of the globe – Greek philosophy, monotheism, Hinduism and Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism. The present authors examine the thesis that the world has been experiencing a second Axial Age (AA II) since the Renaissance in Western Europe and especially since the mid-18th century in Europe and North America to the present. The acceleration of technological innovation, as well as intensification of warfare upon the background of and direct interrelation with the rise of the modern civil society and crucial transformations in the sphere of spiritual over the last 250-500 years has been undeniable. Historically and culturally, the great difference between these two transformational ages is that AA II began locally in Western Europe, but has eventually become global. It can be argued that globalization is not a recent process but almost incipient for human history, and while both AAs were important steps on the way to the global world, the difference between them in terms of their results is that, contrary to those decisive of the AA II, the results achieved on this way in the AA I turned out reversible. The authors will examine these parallels and then speculate on the issues of an emerging spiritual/philosophical response and a post-national state.
NETSOL: New Trends in Social and Liberal Sciences, 2019
In the book where he coined the term "Axial Age", Karl Jaspers noted that human history included ... more In the book where he coined the term "Axial Age", Karl Jaspers noted that human history included both "tranquil ages" and "ages of change". This paper begins with the observation that this oscillation between stable and transformational periods encapsulates the pattern in complexity theory by which systems oscillate between relatively long "stable states" and shorter "phase transitions". Applying this pattern, the coauthors speculate that human history has undergone three such "axial" phase transitions-the Neolithic Revolution, the Axial Age, and Modernity. During each of these periods, the older dominant social structures proved inadequate, as populations grew, new technologies appeared, and new social conflicts became more intense. To meet these challenges, people in the societies where these transformations occurred became more innovative, exploring new ways to use recently developed technologies and introducing a variety of social experiments. By the end of these ages of change, new social structures would become dominant across Eurasia. Today, Modernity, as the third axial age, seems to be coming to an end, making this pattern a valuable tool for understanding our world.
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