In the past decade, complexity-based thinking has exerted increasing, yet somewhat controversial influence over management theory and practice. This has in some part been due to the influence of a number of high-profile articles and the not inconsiderable hype which accompanied them. Another feature of the subject's development has been the diversity of the origins of the thinking and the claims which have been made for it in terms of managerial and organizational implications.
This is the first text to bring this thinking together, presenting some of the most influential writing in the field and showing how the subject has emerged, developed and continues to influence managerial thinking. Seminal contributions to the field have been brought together in a single accessible volume, allowing readers to access what might otherwise appear a very diffuse literature. Moreover, the editors, who represent some of the leading thinkers and writers in this field, have combined these readings with a unique commentary, indicating not only the significance of the papers but teasing out the subtle but significant differences and similarities between them. These commentaries take the form of a discussion between the editors, debating the contribution that each paper has made to the field and the influence it has had on management thinking.
Providing a unique overview, this accessible and thought-provoking reader will be an essential resource for anyone interested in complexity-based approaches.

The contributors to this book are leaders, consultants or managers in organizations who provide narrative accounts of their actual work and daily experience. They explore how the perspective of complex responsive processes assists them to make sense of their experience and so to develop their practice.

Offering a different method of making sense of an individuala (TM)s experience in a rapidly changing world, this book uses reflective accounts of ordinary everyday life in organizations rather than idealized accounts. The editorsa (TM) commentary introduces and contextualizes these experiences as well as drawing out key themes for further research.

What role do values play in organizational life? How do they shape the efficiency and effectiveness of organizational change? This volume examines what we actually mean when we use the term values and what it means to act according to values in ordinary everyday life. The contributors to this volume provide an exposition of the circular relationship between values, conflict, and compromise.
It can be said that current research lacks a thorough exploration of what we actually mean by human values and what it means to act according to values in ordinary, everyday life in organizations. This is what the chapters in this volume seek to address through the reflections of organizational practitioners on their ordinary work in organizations.

Covering subject areas such as organizational theory and behaviour, and organizational analysis as well as the sociology of work and industry, this book will appeal to researchers and practitioners alike.

Many of today s books on the tools and techniques of leadership and management provide descriptions of long lists for use in decision-making, leading, coaching and project management. This book takes a completely different approach. It contests the claims that the tools and techniques are based on evidence and explains why human activities of leading and managing are simply not amenable to scientific proof and consequently, why long-term futures of organizations are unpredictable.

The book undertakes a critical exploration of just what these tools and techniques are about; showing that while they may lead to competent performance they cannot go further to expert performance because expertise involves going beyond rules and procedures. Ralph Stacey investigates the many questions that are thrown up as a result of this new approach. Questions such as:

• How do we apply this new way of thinking?
• What are the practical tools and techniques it gives us?
• What is the role of leaders in an unpredictable world?
• How does complexity affect the way organizations are structured and function?

This book will be relevant to students on courses and modules that deal with leadership, decision-making and organizational development and behaviour as well as professional leaders and managers who want to develop their own understanding and techniques.

In the past decade, complexity-based thinking has exerted increasing, yet somewhat controversial influence over management theory and practice. This has in some part been due to the influence of a number of high-profile articles and the not inconsiderable hype which accompanied them. Another feature of the subject's development has been the diversity of the origins of the thinking and the claims which have been made for it in terms of managerial and organizational implications.
This is the first text to bring this thinking together, presenting some of the most influential writing in the field and showing how the subject has emerged, developed and continues to influence managerial thinking. Seminal contributions to the field have been brought together in a single accessible volume, allowing readers to access what might otherwise appear a very diffuse literature. Moreover, the editors, who represent some of the leading thinkers and writers in this field, have combined these readings with a unique commentary, indicating not only the significance of the papers but teasing out the subtle but significant differences and similarities between them. These commentaries take the form of a discussion between the editors, debating the contribution that each paper has made to the field and the influence it has had on management thinking.
Providing a unique overview, this accessible and thought-provoking reader will be an essential resource for anyone interested in complexity-based approaches.

A fundamental problem of public sector governance relates to the very way of thinking it reflects; where organization is thought of as a 'thing', a system designed to deliver what its designers choose. This volume questions that way of thinking and takes a perspective in which organizations are complex responsive processes of relating between people. Bringing together the work of participants on the Doctor of Management program at Hertfordshire University, this book focuses on the move to marketization and managerialism, paying particular attention to human relationships and group dynamics. The contributors provide narrative accounts of their work addressing questions of management, pressures, accountability, responsiveness and traditional systems perspectives. In considering such questions in terms of their daily experience, they explore how the perspective of complex responsive processes assists them in making sense of experience and developing practice. Including an editors' commentary which introduces and contextualizes these experiences as well as drawing out key themes for further research, this book will be of value to academics, students and practitioners looking for reflective accounts of real life experiences rather than further prescriptions of what organizational life ought to be.

The theory of complex responsive processes and its implications for those working within organizations has become the focus of increasing interest in recent years. This is in good part due to the success of the editors' previous groundbreaking theory, "Complexity and" "Emergence in Organizations,"
In this innovative new series, the editors have focussed on what these ideas mean for practitioners tackling real organizational issues, and how they can be used to make sense of the changes and challenges which organizations must face. This book introduces and explores the possible meanings of the idea of "working live." It makes sense of the sense-making experience itself, drawing attention to the way ideas and concepts emerge "live" in all conversations in organizations. An appreciation of the open-ended, improvisational nature of ongoing human communication becomes key to such an understanding. The chapters, all written by experienced managers and consultants, explore:
- How various forms of improvisation in social interaction can inform ways of appreciating how those links are forged
- How these insights can illuminate the challenges of managing, developing and changing organizational practices
In "Experiencing Risk, Spontaneity and Improvisation in Organizational Life," Shaw and Stacey explore, through the real-life experiences of practicing managers, some of the emerging themes and practical insights that can be drawn from an improvisational view of organizational life. With contributions from managers in both the private and public sectors, the book explores human communication skills and interactions to provide a unique exploration of "working live." It will be ofinterest to advanced students and practitioners.

The theory of complex responsive processes and its implications for those working within organizations has become the focus of increasing interest in recent years. This is in good part due to the success of the editors' previous groundbreaking theory, "Complexity and" "Emergence in Organizations,"
In this innovative new series, the editors have focussed on what these ideas mean for practitioners tackling real organizational issues, and how they can be used to make sense of the changes and challenges which organizations must face. This book introduces and explores the possible meanings of the idea of "working live." It makes sense of the sense-making experience itself, drawing attention to the way ideas and concepts emerge "live" in all conversations in organizations. An appreciation of the open-ended, improvisational nature of ongoing human communication becomes key to such an understanding. The chapters, all written by experienced managers and consultants, explore:
- How various forms of improvisation in social interaction can inform ways of appreciating how those links are forged
- How these insights can illuminate the challenges of managing, developing and changing organizational practices
In "Experiencing Risk, Spontaneity and Improvisation in Organizational Life," Shaw and Stacey explore, through the real-life experiences of practicing managers, some of the emerging themes and practical insights that can be drawn from an improvisational view of organizational life. With contributions from managers in both the private and public sectors, the book explores human communication skills and interactions to provide a unique exploration of "working live." It will be ofinterest to advanced students and practitioners.

A fundamental problem of public sector governance relates to the very way of thinking it reflects; where organization is thought of as a 'thing', a system designed to deliver what its designers choose. This volume questions that way of thinking and takes a perspective in which organizations are complex responsive processes of relating between people. Bringing together the work of participants on the Doctor of Management program at Hertfordshire University, this book focuses on the move to marketization and managerialism, paying particular attention to human relationships and group dynamics. The contributors provide narrative accounts of their work addressing questions of management, pressures, accountability, responsiveness and traditional systems perspectives. In considering such questions in terms of their daily experience, they explore how the perspective of complex responsive processes assists them in making sense of experience and developing practice. Including an editors' commentary which introduces and contextualizes these experiences as well as drawing out key themes for further research, this book will be of value to academics, students and practitioners looking for reflective accounts of real life experiences rather than further prescriptions of what organizational life ought to be.

The past decade has seen increasing focus on the importance of information and knowledge in economic and social processes, the so-called 'knowledge economy'. This is reflected in the popularity amongst managers and organizational theorists of notions of learning, sense-making, knowledge creation, knowledge management and intellectual capital in organizations and more recently, of emotional intelligence as an important management skill.

Complex Responsive Processes in Organizations:
*argues that the systems thinking view of knowledge creation is no longer tenable
*questions the belief that organizational knowledge is essentially codified and centralized
*develops the alternative perspective of Complex Responsive Processes of relating, drawing on the complexity sciences for analogies with human action
*places self-organizing interaction at the centre of the knowledge creating process in organizations
*sees learning and knowledge creation as processes of power relating that are emotional as well as intellectual, creative as well as destructive, enabling as well as constraining
*understands organizational knowledge to be located in the relationships between people in an organization and to reflect the qualities of those relationships.

The past decade has seen increasing focus on the importance of information and knowledge in economic and social processes, the so-called 'knowledge economy'. This is reflected in the popularity amongst practicing managers and organizational theorists of notions of learning, sense-making, knowledge creation, knowledge management and intellectual capital in organizations and more recently, of emotional intelligence as an important management skill.

This insightful book:

• argues that the information processing view of knowledge creation held by systems thinkers is no longer tenable
• develops the alternative perspective of Complex Responsive Processes of relating, drawing on the complexity sciences as a source for analogies with human action
• places self-organizing interaction at the centre of the knowledge creating process in organizations.

Learning and knowledge creation are seen as qualitative processes of power relating that are emotional as well as intellectual, creative as well as destructive, enabling as well as constraining, and the result is a radical questioning of the belief that organizational knowledge is essentially codified and centralized. Instead, organizational knowledge is understood to be in the relationships between people in an organization and has to do with the qualities of those relationships.

What role do values play in organizational life? How do they shape the efficiency and effectiveness of organizational change? This volume examines what we actually mean when we use the term values and what it means to act according to values in ordinary everyday life. The contributors to this volume provide an exposition of the circular relationship between values, conflict, and compromise.
It can be said that current research lacks a thorough exploration of what we actually mean by human values and what it means to act according to values in ordinary, everyday life in organizations. This is what the chapters in this volume seek to address through the reflections of organizational practitioners on their ordinary work in organizations.

Covering subject areas such as organizational theory and behaviour, and organizational analysis as well as the sociology of work and industry, this book will appeal to researchers and practitioners alike.

Examining the experiences of organizational practitioners, this informative book features contributions from experienced leaders, consultants and managers in various organizations, and narrative accounts of the contributors work address key topical questions.

Rather than offering descriptions of organizational life, this book provides reflective accounts of real life experiences of researching in organizations, and will be a valuable insight for academics and business school students and practitioners.

In considering several key questions in terms of daily experience, the contributors explore the perspective of complex responsive processes, investigate how this assists them to make sense of their experience and analyze how it leads to their development.

The contributors to this book are leaders, consultants or managers in organizations who provide narrative accounts of their actual work and daily experience. They explore how the perspective of complex responsive processes assists them to make sense of their experience and so to develop their practice.

Offering a different method of making sense of an individuala (TM)s experience in a rapidly changing world, this book uses reflective accounts of ordinary everyday life in organizations rather than idealized accounts. The editorsa (TM) commentary introduces and contextualizes these experiences as well as drawing out key themes for further research.

The perspective of complex responsive processes draws on analogies from the complexity sciences, bringing in the essential characteristics of human agents, understood to emerge in social processes of communicative interaction and power-relating. The result is a way of thinking about life in organizations that focuses attention on how organizational members cope with unknown as they perpetually create organizational futures together.
Providing a natural successor to the Editors' earlier series (Complexity and Emergence in Organizations) this series Complexity as the Experience of Organizing, aims to take this work further by taking very seriously the experience of organizational practitioners, and showing how taking the perspective of complex responsive process yields deeper insight into practice and so develops that practice.
In this book, all of the contributors work as leaders, consultants or managers in organizations. They provide narrative accounts of their actual work addressingquestions such as:
- How does the work of the researcher actually assist managers when the uncertainty is so great that they do no know what they are doing yet?
- What does research in organizations actually achieve?
- If patters of human interaction produced nothing but further patterns of human interaction, in the creation of which we are all participating, is there a detached way of understanding organizations from the position of the objective observer?
In considering such questions in terms of their daily experience, the contributors explore how the perspective of complex responsive processes assists them to make sense of their experience and so to develop their practice. "AComplexity Perspective on Researching Organizations" offers a different method for making sense of experience in a rapidly changing world by using reflective accounts of ordinary everyday life in organizations rather than idealized accounts. The editors' commentary introduces and contextualizes these experiences as well as drawing out key themes for further research.
"A Complexity Perspective on Researching Organizations" will be of value to readers from amongst those academics and business school students and practitioners who are looking for reflective accounts of real life experiences of researching in organizations, rather than further prescriptions of what life in organizations ought to be like.

Many of today s books on the tools and techniques of leadership and management provide descriptions of long lists for use in decision-making, leading, coaching and project management. This book takes a completely different approach. It contests the claims that the tools and techniques are based on evidence and explains why human activities of leading and managing are simply not amenable to scientific proof and consequently, why long-term futures of organizations are unpredictable.

The book undertakes a critical exploration of just what these tools and techniques are about; showing that while they may lead to competent performance they cannot go further to expert performance because expertise involves going beyond rules and procedures. Ralph Stacey investigates the many questions that are thrown up as a result of this new approach. Questions such as:

• How do we apply this new way of thinking?
• What are the practical tools and techniques it gives us?
• What is the role of leaders in an unpredictable world?
• How does complexity affect the way organizations are structured and function?

This book will be relevant to students on courses and modules that deal with leadership, decision-making and organizational development and behaviour as well as professional leaders and managers who want to develop their own understanding and techniques.

Examining the experiences of organizational practitioners, this informative book features contributions from experienced leaders, consultants and managers in various organizations, and narrative accounts of the contributors work address key topical questions.

Rather than offering descriptions of organizational life, this book provides reflective accounts of real life experiences of researching in organizations, and will be a valuable insight for academics and business school students and practitioners.

In considering several key questions in terms of daily experience, the contributors explore the perspective of complex responsive processes, investigate how this assists them to make sense of their experience and analyze how it leads to their development.

The perspective of complex responsive processes draws on analogies from the complexity sciences, bringing in the essential characteristics of human agents, understood to emerge in social processes of communicative interaction and power-relating. The result is a way of thinking about life in organizations that focuses attention on how organizational members cope with unknown as they perpetually create organizational futures together.
Providing a natural successor to the Editors' earlier series (Complexity and Emergence in Organizations) this series Complexity as the Experience of Organizing, aims to take this work further by taking very seriously the experience of organizational practitioners, and showing how taking the perspective of complex responsive process yields deeper insight into practice and so develops that practice.
In this book, all of the contributors work as leaders, consultants or managers in organizations. They provide narrative accounts of their actual work addressingquestions such as:
- How does the work of the researcher actually assist managers when the uncertainty is so great that they do no know what they are doing yet?
- What does research in organizations actually achieve?
- If patters of human interaction produced nothing but further patterns of human interaction, in the creation of which we are all participating, is there a detached way of understanding organizations from the position of the objective observer?
In considering such questions in terms of their daily experience, the contributors explore how the perspective of complex responsive processes assists them to make sense of their experience and so to develop their practice. "AComplexity Perspective on Researching Organizations" offers a different method for making sense of experience in a rapidly changing world by using reflective accounts of ordinary everyday life in organizations rather than idealized accounts. The editors' commentary introduces and contextualizes these experiences as well as drawing out key themes for further research.
"A Complexity Perspective on Researching Organizations" will be of value to readers from amongst those academics and business school students and practitioners who are looking for reflective accounts of real life experiences of researching in organizations, rather than further prescriptions of what life in organizations ought to be like.