Alicia Juarrero is founder and president of VectorAnalytica with a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Miami, where she is also currently a research associate. She is the author of the book Dynamics in Action (2008), and the upcoming Context Changes Everything (2023), both published by MIT Press.

We’ve all heard about how organizations are like natural organisms, but is that really true? And if it is, how can we get inspired by nature in designing and understanding them?

In this episode, we talk to Alicia about her work in complexity theory and how it applies to organizations. Alicia takes from Aristotle the image of the organization as a natural organism and unpacks the biological reality of organizing. 

Parts of a natural organism, like a cell, are different from just parts of a material mass. A complex organization is a system where members and teams define themselves by their role and through interaction with other parts of the system. This has specific consequences on the hierarchy and management of teams embedded in various contextual layers. In these complex organizations, boundaries and enabling constraints have a role to steer direction, and managers should act as catalysts, not applying coercive forces.

Remember that you can always find the full episode and transcript on our website: https://boundaryless.io/podcast/alicia-juarrero/

Key Highlights

👉 The cellular-based ecosystemic organization is not governed by hierarchy and external forces.

👉 “Life and death” of the components of an organization make it dynamic and adaptable.

👉 Boundaries in biological reality are permeable interfaces, not mechanistic edges.

Topics (Chapters)

00:03:04 Organization as “organism”

00:09:45 Hierarchy in social organizations

00:12:25 Three levels we have to consider when thinking of a social organization

00:20:29 How to set goals in a complex organization?

00:36:35 The role of enabling constraints

00:44:38 Alicia’s Breadcrumbs

To find out more about Alicia Juarrero’s work:

👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicia-juarrero-93b3a25/

👉 Website: https://www.vectoranalytica.com/

Other References and Mentions:

👉 Dynamics in Action (2002) - Alicia Juarrero: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262600477/dynamics-in-action/

👉 The Self-Organization of Intentional Action: https://www.cairn.info/revue-internationale-de-philosophie-2004-2-page-189.htm

👉 Constraints that Enable Innovation - Alicia Juarrero: https://vimeo.com/128934608

Alicia’s Suggested Breadcrumbs (Things Listeners Should Check Out):

👉 "Boundaries, hierarchies and networks in complex systems" - Paul Cilliers: https://blogs.cim.warwick.ac.uk/complexity/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2014/02/Cilliers-2001-Boundaries-Hierarchies-and-Networks.pdf

👉 The Theory of Graceful Extensibility: Basic Rules that Govern Adaptive Systems - David D Woods: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327427067_The_Theory_of_Graceful_Extensibility_Basic_rules_that_govern_adaptive_systems

Recorded on 7 October 2022.

Get in touch with Boundaryless:

Find out more about the show and the research at Boundaryless at https://boundaryless.io/resources/podcast/

👉 Twitter: https://twitter.com/boundaryless_

👉 Website: https://boundaryless.io/contacts

👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/boundaryless-pdt-3eo/

Music

Music from Liosound / Walter Mobilio. Find his portfolio here: https://blss.io/Podcast-Music