Harnessing Complexity: Organizational Implications of a Scientific Frontier

Harnessing Complexity

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Harnessing Complexity - Robert Axelrod, Michael D. Cohen - Google Книги

Variation What is the best way to manage the development of software? Should the problem be broken up into small pieces for programmers working independently, thus enhancing variation, or should there be a centralized hierarchy of programmers ruled by a chain of command? The authors show how the decentralized creation of variation combined with the centralized maintenance of standards was the key to the success of the Linux "open source software" project, which brought together thousands of volunteers in cyberspace to produce an operating system that can outperform Microsoft's.

Interaction Why did northern Italy prosper while southern Italy remained poor? Recognizing the internal interactions of a Complex Adaptive System -- be it a national region, a company, or a nonprofit group -- reveals vital networks of trust. Axelrod and Cohen explain that in successful adaptive systems, rich networks of horizontal linkages foster cooperation and provide an advantage over other less cooperatively networked groups.

In the case of Italy, voluntary associations created networks of trust in the Middle Ages that became northern Italy's critical advantage over the south. How can foundations and corporations design competitions that have a positive effect on the evolution of excellence? The authors' framework makes clear that the worst selection processes are mired in orthodox standards that have not adapted to a new environment. The best selection processes, on the other hand, are created and run by leaders who understand how the standards they use can transform their organization and its environment.

This simple, paradigm-shifting analysis of how people work together will transform the way we think about getting things done in a group. Harnessing Complexity is the essential guide to creating wealth, power, and knowledge in the 21st century.

Harnessing Complexity

Prahalad University of Michigan, coauthor of Competing for the Future Harnessing Complexity distills the managerial essence of current research on complexity. Any manager confronted with disruptive change will find that Axelrod and Cohen have made a very valuable contribution to the emerging theory of competition and competitive advantage. Goldberg President, Santa Fe Institute Insightful and refreshingly honest, Axelrod and Cohen have created a major contribution to complexity literature.

Francis Fukuyama author of The Great Disruption and The End of History There has always been a fairly wide gap between theoretical work on complex adaptive systems and its application to real world problems confronting business and public policy. Harnessing Complexity builds a highly practical bridge between these worlds, drawing on the deep insights of two thinkers who were there at the beginning of the complexity revolution.

Harnessing Complexity: Organizational Implications of a Scientific Frontier

A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy You can't control complex systems, but you can influence them. Harnessing Complexity shows how.

Even though I'm pretty familiar with concepts of artificial life and optimization which forms the basis of the framework of Harnessing Complexity I had a problem picking through relevant and non-relevant topics and had a few "so what? As it is the book needs re-reading and probably a closer study with a hands-on project to get everything out of it. B the book also contains a few of a few typos and ungrammatical sentences which coupled with the subject matter certainly doesn't help comprehension.

Harnessing Complexity is an interesting book with some very deep ideas. If it wasn't for the presentation it easily could have been one of my favorites.

Sep 29, Franck Chauvel rated it it was ok Shelves: Harnessing Complexity is a gentle introduction to "complex systems": Such systems exhibit unexpected behaviours, with sudden changes of regime, cycles, oscillations or tipping points to name a few. The text focuses on three key aspects, namely variation, interaction, and selection. Variation mainly results in multiple species whose agents apply different strategies; interaction refers to the alternative interaction, be it in Harnessing Complexity is a gentle introduction to "complex systems": Variation mainly results in multiple species whose agents apply different strategies; interaction refers to the alternative interaction, be it in a physical universe e.

Harnessing Complexity: Organizational Implications of a Scientific Frontier

I found the book very easy to read compared for instance to "Complex Adaptive Systems: Yet, having read other books on the subject including several texts from J. Holland, I did not get much more beyond what I already knew. While I would certainly recommend it as an introduction, I would rather orient complex systems "connoisseurs" towards more specific text, on chaos theory or on learning classifier systems for instance. Axelrod and in this case, working with co-author Michael D. Cohen does a great job of describing complexity.

Organizational Implications of a Scientific Frontier

It's an very lucid description of the organization properties inherent in complex systems. I'm glad I started here when I first decided that I needed to understand complexity theory. His, 'The Complexity of Cooperation is also part of the the foundation of complexity theory and its usefulness. Aug 14, Mark rated it liked it Shelves: I was somewhat disappointed with this book because The Evolution of Cooperation was so great.

I think this is a decent introduction to complex social systems providing the reader with a basic vocabulary and some some moderately insightful discussion of social systems. There doesn't seem to be any unique contributions here. I thought the discussion about variation was the best part of the book. Aug 24, Tawfiqam rated it it was amazing. Usually, you would think that complexity is a negative phenomenon to be controlled and if possible, if you are lucky eliminated The authors look at the flip side of this argument where the complexity is "harnessed" in order to explore as well exploit different nodes in a decision tree in order to determine the best methods Mar 23, AJ Passman rated it it was ok.

Difficult This is a book I read for a class, and it was honestly torturous to get through. The science is compelling, but it just doesn't make for a great read. Dec 28, Mark Lacy rated it really liked it Shelves: Important systematic description of what agent-based modeling is all about in studying complex systems. Julie rated it really liked it Feb 07, Alaeris rated it it was amazing Jan 02, Ranodda rated it liked it Dec 22, Lisa Peck rated it liked it Jul 03, Nc rated it really liked it Jul 30, Andy Morgado rated it really liked it Oct 30, Pankaj rated it it was amazing Jul 07, Matt Strohmeyer rated it really liked it Feb 23, James Fulginiti rated it really liked it May 17, Quicchote rated it it was amazing Mar 26, George rated it liked it Aug 19, Todd rated it it was amazing Sep 21, Anthony rated it liked it Dec 28, Jonathan Smith rated it it was amazing Sep 08, Dale rated it liked it May 16, Rebecca Beard rated it liked it Feb 21, Jim Sullivan rated it really liked it Apr 14, Paul Sparks rated it really liked it Dec 18, Robert Kugic rated it really liked it Oct 01, Zlatko rated it it was ok Oct 18, Russi rated it really liked it Oct 09, John Forman rated it liked it Jul 02, Tamra rated it liked it Sep 09,

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