the bi- monthly newsletter of Strategenis a change facilitation consultancy.

The name genesis was chosen to the reflect the sense of beginning and emergence from initial conditions. Just as Lorenz explored how the flap of a butterfly wing in Brazil could lead to a tornado in Texas, our goal is that Genesis will create a flap

Simple Rule for Effective Organizations. By Paul Mackey ©Strategenis

One of the fascinating lessons from the new complexity sciences is the idea that simple rules in a dynamic system can lead to complex behaviour. An often sighted example of this is the Boids computer simulation in which the “Boids” follow three simple rules 1. fly towards the centre of mass other boids 2. maintain a minimum distance from other objects ( don't hit other boids or objects) 3. adjust speed to average speed of other “boids” With these three simple rules, the boids behave in a very life like flock in their flying pattern. The same pattern provides a swam like pattern for bees. I sometimes think the same rules are in play when you watch a novice soccer game for six year olds- only here there is only two rules at play 1. run after the ball, 2. when you get close enough kick it towards the goal.

The beauty of using simple rules – is not only in the complexity of the behaviour patterns which can arise, but also how they can be applied when faced with a complex situation. Margret Wheatley tells the story of a high school which suffered a “lockdown” situation in which all students and staff were required to leave the building an stand in a school yard, muddy from a fresh rainfall. Once the all clear signal was given, the students re-entered the school, with their muddy shoes. The principal, upon entering, was astonished to see the muddy shoes of 400 students piled at the entrance, the hallway floors were clean! What happened? This was the power of simple rules to cop with a new , never before experienced situation. No command from authorities was needed. None was given. The students just applied the three rules which were used throughout the school 1. Respect yourself 2. Respect others , and 3. Respect this place.

Often organizations become bogged down in policy and procedures. With good intention the organization introduces a new procedure in an attempt to bring about clarity, to prevent confusion, to share knowledge of a “best” practice, or to provide some consistency how things are done. Too often, the result is confusion about conflicting procedures or policies, information overload ( no one person can know all the rules), rules are used to deny customized or unusual service requests, and innovation is discouraged. Yet when faced with emergencies, some bureaucracies can react with surprising speed. Air controllers in eastern and western Canada on 9/11 were faced with the challenge of landing hundreds of passenger planes diverted from US airports. Any one of these planes may have carried terrorists. No centralized rule book covered this type of situation. My personal view is that Canadian air traffic controllers used simple rules to accomplish the task. Rule 1. Land all planes safely Rule 2. Park them in a secure area. These two simple rules allowed controllers to advise pilots to only use one runway for landing and to convert all other runways to secure airplane parking lots away from the passenger terminals. It allowed them to divert planes to alternative airports which had capacity for them to be safely landed and secured and it allowed a quick sharing of knowledge between airports on techniques to secure the planes. All of the other normal rules about loading gates, fueling, baggage handling, ticketing, maintenance, parking, passenger services etc. were not important in the situation and they were downplayed or ignored.

The use of simple rules allows people in an organization to act locally, with innovation to bring about patterns of efficiency which are organization wide. The approach trusts employees to make good decisions, to share information and have it shared with them. Simple rules can bring clarity- even to complex situations and processes. They are scalable- like fractals- the pattern created locally can be equally to the individual, the team, to the broader organization and in some cases to the industry. In many ways they are comparable to organizational values which guide interactions within organizations. This has significant implications for how organizational transitions and change plans are developed . Instead of centralized control of plans, it opens the option for nurturing the kind of change one hopes to achieve at a group level and then fostering the conditions which encourage the successful pattern to be adopted in the rest of the organization. Malcom Gladwell's book “The Tipping Point” explores how the phenomena of epidemics occur, startiing with a small intitial infection which grows slowly and then reaches a tipping point where the spread is rapid. He sights examples of how this happens as well with ideas, and with product acceptance in the market place. Simple rules can help create the conditions for this kind of scaling in organizations.

My favourite set of simple rules are those of the Human Systems Dynamics Institute ( a link is provided on the www. Strategenis.com home page) Strategenis – a change facilitation consultancy based in Ottawa can help groups to develop their own set of simple rules as a means to dealing with the complexity the group may be experiencing.

Strategenis uses simple rules in its approach to group facilitation. Rather than establishing a long list of ground rules for a meeting , we use only two. The first is that participants have a responsibility to generate and use their own voice. The second, is to exercise a responsibility to grant voice to others. These rules come from the communtion theory of Jurgen Habermas, described in a wonderful article by Royce Holladay called “Responsibilities in a Diverse Environment: Human Systems Dynamics at Work” We have found that to generate voice, participants need to advocate their own ideas, as they build in the ideas of others. They need to develop the confidence to initiate communication in a group. They need to recognize that their contributions have an impact on others and that others shape the context in which they put forward their voice. On the other side of the coin, granting voice to others means listening, respecting their contributions , reducing fear etc. These simple rules when practiced well and consistently help to balance power in the group and generate meaningful and effective conversation. I believe that they can also be effective in organizations.