Emergence

Simply changing the principles doesn’t tell you what new pattern of behaviour emerges. You know a new pattern will emerge as the living system makes sense of the new principle, but how it makes sense

Cognition

To ask how we become aware of what is happening in a living system is to enquire into the consciousness of that system. The system’s capacity to take intentional action is linked to its level

Networks

The knowledge and know-how about how to make the change work are retained in the network that created them, not in the technical solution that arises. You cannot roll-out a network. It is like picking

Self Organising

Our identity is inevitably shaped by our history. The changes we have been through to arrive where we are now determine our form in the world. They also determine how we make sense of our

Cheshire Cat Grins

The reason we don’t truly become Change Makers is that we don’t want to. We really want to preserve things as they are, right up until the moment that they inevitably die.

Doomed to Failure

In a living system the clue is in the name. You have to ‘grow’ something. Something that infects the system and spreads through it such that each node or place in the system grows its

Paddling Just Paddling

I am in a bubble where time and the wider world have gone and all that matters is the synthesis of a body, a boat and a paddle. The bubble pops as I touch the

An Organisation is a Living Thing

Since Descartes we have tried to understand the world by dividing it into its constituent parts. By breaking things down into their basic building blocks we have sought to gain a deeper understanding of how

The NHS is alive but rather unwell

The NHS is alive but rather unwell. Much great work is being done and we remain the envy of many. And also we are locked in a cycle of increasing pressure. To keep the NHS

Is it really so good to fail?

Fail fast fail often is the official new manta of change. We encourage failure whilst at the same time the organisational consequences are heavy. No wonder the hidden mantra is 'play it safe' or