Human Systems Dynamics
by
Glenda Eoyang
Founder of the Human Systems Dynamics
Institute
I started my chaos journey in December of
1989 when Chaos: Making a New Science (Gleick, 1988)
helped me solve some really messy issues in my fledgling company.
Since then I've studied, researched, taught, consulted, and
written about the complex dynamics of human systems.
In the early days, SCTPLS and the Chaos Network
formed a small cluster of kindred spirits. Each of us had our
own special interests, but we also were curious about and respectful
of the paths of others. We were building a shared inquiry in
which our interactions established the emerging patterns of
this new field of study and action.
Over time, though, our community grew larger.
Differences among us took precedence. Our languages and methods
diverged, so it became more difficult for us to engage in shared
inquiry. Boundaries formed and splintered the field into qualitative/quantitative;
academy/industry; community/organization; macrosystem/microsystem;
simulation/reality. Though each of us continued to pursue our
own questions, it became more difficult because we lacked the
coherent community to support this difficult and embryonic work.
Some of us saw a real possibility that the applications of nonlinear
dynamics to human systems might dissipate into marginalized
projects at the edges of traditional fields of study--relegated
to the end of a dusty hall in a crumbling university departments.
In graduate school, I began to think of the
field itself as a laboratory for complex adaptive systems. We
were certainly a large number of relatively autonomous agents
with the ability to interact in unpredictable ways, and system-wide
patterns could emerge from our interactions over time. This
framing established the question, "What conditions would
encourage coherent patterns to form in this emerging field of
research and practice?" Based on my research I concluded
that we needed a boundary of some kind to contain the process
of self-organizing, some way to clarify and negotiate differences
that made a difference, and myriad opportunities to engage to
make sense of the differences as they emerged.
Of course others had established groups to
support systemic emergence in the field: SCTPLS, Plexus Institute,
Chaos Network, and many others. Each had its own characteristic
patterns and life cycle.
In 2003 we founded the Human Systems Dynamics
Institute in an attempt to establish conditions and to study
the process of complex adaptation that would follow. The plan
was relatively simple.
1. Name the field-Human Systems Dynamics.
2. Define simple rules to articulate the differences
that make a difference.
