Hi Harold,

I agree with you when you say that what Shirky is speaking about in mal-functioning bureaucracies is the tendency to overcomplicate things. The more formal systems, processes and procedures that managers introduce, the more complicated that these tend to become. So, reducing the clutter of unnecessary or overly complicated structures, systems and procedures would certainly make organizations simpler in design terms.

However, I cannot agree with your view that organizations are not complex. On the contrary, I would argue that they are inherently so. As soon as you have a couple of people interacting, you move from complicated to complex. Indeed just being a human is complex! So managing human beings will never be complicated; it will always be complex.

The complex social dynamics of self-organization, emergence, non-linearity and paradox are ever present. They are integral to the ongoing conversations and interactions that make up everyday organizational life. These dynamics are affected by – but do not depend on - how simple or how complicated an organization might be in terms of its ‘infrastructure’, inter-connections, issues or whatever.

Viewing organizations as dynamic networks of self-organizing conversations also means that there is no “inside” and “outside” in the conventional sense. We might think of an ‘organizational identity’ as providing a boundary between “us” (inside) and “them” (outside); and we might also define a boundary for legal purposes. But the conversations that determine organizational outcomes are unbounded.

Based on the above, therefore, I have to disagree with you when you say “A complex organization could not be managed”. Managers are necessarily dealing with these complexities all of the time – even if they are not aware of the fact or believe that these can be ‘designed out’ or otherwise dealt with through rational planning and control. The challenge instead is for them to actively engage with these complex social dynamics; seeking to shift the patterns of interaction, conversation and resulting behaviours in organizationally beneficial ways. Even then, they can act with intention but with no certainty of outcome.

Cheers, Chris