Self-Organization

Like many living systems such as a flock of birds, cells, natural eco-systems, indeed, our own bodies, business organizations can cross a threshold . . . somewhere between the rigid mechanical structures of a traditional hierarchy and the chaos of no structure is a realm of special complexity: self-organization.

Innovation, service and quality emerge from the group's intelligence. This intelligence is greater than what any one individual is capable of. And this group intelligence is not possible without self-organization.

Because of how regular, local people respond to disasters like earthquakes and floods, we know that nearly any group is capable of self-organization. During these disasters, almost everyone immediately bvehaves with full-responsibility for the success of the whole. Community spirit, open and honest communication and values agreement can, at times, combine with self-organization to create group intelligence, and do so even without some awful disaster as the motivator. When that happens it's because many individuals take 100 percent responsibility for the entire organization's success.

Like the complex musical structures that emerge from an improvisational jazz or rhythm band, certain ad hoc organizational structures emerge from self-organization. And since no single structure works for all situations, these "emergent" structures vary from organization to organization. Thus, traditional hierarchies, self-managing teams, matrix management and other forms of organizational structure each can have a proper time and place, while flexible self-organization—in addition to these formal structures—enables greater group intelligence to emerge as a response to irregular events and surprising situations.

For this to happen is needed is an organizational culture that allows the natural emergence of ad hoc structures structure. Such self-organizating groups are self-correcting, high-performing, forward-looking, and capable of rapid, responsive, and adaptive change. Leaders then show up everywhere, as they are needed.

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