Dear Complexifiers,
Ardy Bayat writes:
>Does anyone have a view/ experience on how this
>thinking can be practically applied to IT systems
>projects and knowledge management within large
>organisations? Any recommended reading for those
>not so familiar with the field?
Greetings Ardy,
You may consider me as naive, but I am convinced that making complexity
the key issue in large organisations depends on good old fashioned
LEARNING reformed for complexity rtaher than simplicity.
I have helped many people in getting their deeth deep into complexity.
Without exception each of them was not only willing to reform their
learning, but did so passionately all the way. Learning and knowledge are
not the same thing. Learning is the endless increment of knowledge.
However, both learning and knowledge happens within the mind of a person.
Most of what is called presently Knowledge Management is actually
Information Management. That which we find in a journal, book or website
is information and neither learning nor knowledge.
The serious problem with managing learning and knowledge is to keep
outside managers from causing havoc in the mind of the learners with their
theories and practices. It is the person self who will have to do this
managing of his/her own learning and knowledge. This is connected to the
question which Ian Robson seeks an answer to: should the system create its
own entropy or should it be deluged with entropy from the outside. To
understand this connection, one must bring learning into relation with
entropy.
I can do it self with the associativity pattern of wholeness, namely
"entropy production" => creativity => learning. But I have found out
through many experiences that too much complexity at too an early stage is
not a good thing. The associative pattern above involves immense
complexity. Administering complexity with simplicity does not work, but
exposure to complexity in a stepwise fashion does work.
Best wishes
At de Lange <amdelange@gold.up.ac.za>
Snailmail: A M de Lange
Gold Fields Computer Centre
Faculty of Science - University of Pretoria
Pretoria 0001 - Rep of South Africa
--"AM de Lange" <amdelange@gold.up.ac.za>
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