Living Systems

 

NewLiving language for new systemsSystems

The last 2 centuries the most used image for organisation was the Machine. Our organisational language is loaded with terminology alluding to this image.

Alternative images best inform and define our evolutionary journey:

1. Flux and Transformation: an organisation is an ever-changing system indivisible from its environment

2. Organism: an organisation is a collective response to its environment and, to survive, must adapt as the environment changes

If we understand a DHO is a living part of an ecosystem in a permanent flow and transformation, to concepts become important:

Autopoiesis: (from Greek αὐτo- (auto-) 'self', and ποίησις (poiesis) 'creation, production') refers to a system capable of reproducing and maintaining itself by creating its own parts and eventually further components. 

Exopoiesis: "In exopoiesis, an organism functions not for its own benefit, but rather for the benefit of something related to it, to which it is therefore of instrumental value.Tabbi, Joseph (2002) Cognitive Fictions.

A DHO Journey is a journey into decentralisation requiring new language, new thinking, new concepts, new images, new metaphors and new stories.

Also Frederic Laloux's Reinventing Organizations used Integral Theory approach to classify organisations, from which a Teal organisation seams to be relevant bases for a DHO.

More in https://reinventingorganizationswiki.com/theory/organizational-structure/

 

 

Both the Web of interconnected individuals or the Nested Holonic circles are  good graphical bases for the DHO organisation archetypes.

While the above are good bases for the Organisation DHO archetype they come short for the remaining archetypes.

Richard D. Barlett Micro-solidarity exploration reveals some natural patterns of humans coming together. These ideas are relevant for any Type of DHO.

Still both visions so far are based on a vision of a system and its parts. A better integrative proposal is present in the  Symmatesy concept.

Symmathesy Greek prefix Syn/ Sym (together) + Mathesi, (to learn) =Learning together (Pronounced: sym- math-a-see)

Symmathesy (Noun): An entity composed by contextual mutual learning through interaction. This process of interaction and mutual learning takes place in living entities at larger or smaller scales of symmathesy.

Symmathesy (Verb): to interact within multiple variables to produce a mutual learning context.

Symmatesy concept allows us to establish a very relevant continuum for live and living systems.

Manuel Lima systematises the graphical aspects of this new language in the next figure.

The above images are helpful for DHO adventurers reflections and mapping off their organisations.

What image better describes your DHO possibility?