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Measures of Adaptability
There was some exploration of how an organization could
measure its adaptability. A difficulty encountered was gaining a clear
and tangible grasp of adaptability per se, suggesting therefore that
it be measured indirectly – through the factors underlying and fostering
organizational adaptability
Some candidate measures of adaptability were:
- Connectivity – it was suggested that increased
connectivity among agents inside a system and between a system and
its environment leads to a greater potential for adaptability because
of increasing information flow. That is, the more connections, the
more frequent the connections occur, the richer the history of connections,
the broader the range of connections, the more information flows across
the connections, the higher the quality (however defined) of the connections,
the more enduring they are, then the more adaptable the system will
be. "Maps" of connectivity among individuals, work groups,
departments, and with external systems on could be drawn with some
kind of weighting scheme indicating the various parameters of connectivity.
The point here is not the same as measuring the number of connections
but rather the richness and characteristics of the connections. Reference
was made to Lane & Maxfield’s construct of generative relationships
and the dimensions of action opportunities, aligned direction, difference,
and the ongoing nature of the relationships.
- Transforming Feedback Loops – (from Eoyang)
– a connection between two or more persons that serves to transform
each party. Several parameters of feedback loops: length – distance
of time of information exchange; width – how many different types
of information can travel across the loop at the same time.
- Departures From The Norm – suggesting that
some degree of ongoing "instability" or "far-from-equilibrium"
variability seems to be more conducive for innovation.
- Innovation Initiatives – is there some way
to measure the number of spontaneously emerging projects and initiatives,
and not just the new ideas, but their implementation as well?
- Management Non-Interventions – the notion
here is the concept of distributed control, including the degree of
authority vested in a job and how much of an organization’s authority
is distributed rather than concentrated at higher levels. It was suggested
that we consider measuring how many times managers don’t intervene
or refuse to make a decision.
- Wicked Questioning – how can we measure the
degree and frequency of challenges to the equilibrium? Possibilities
- number of challenging statements, impact, who voiced them, who listened,
who acted upon, what was changed as a result, is there a reward for
such challenges.
This discussion triggered questions about whether measurement
is the right concept.
Some said that complexity is more about qualities than
quantities. The idea of indicators was broached, as it is less laden
with negative and mechanistic connotations and implicitly suggests the
value of reflecting on the observable.
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