Managers tend to treat organizations as if they are infinitely plastic. They hire and fire, merge, downsize, terminate programs, add capacities. But there are limits to the shifts that organizations can absorb.

Quote by Kevin Kelly

Topics: Kevin Kelly Quotes

A brain is a society of very small, simple modules that cannot be said to...

A brain is a society of very small, simple modules that cannot be said to...

An organization's reason for being, like that of any organism, is to help the parts...

An organization's reason for being, like that of any organism, is to help the parts...

Managing bottom-up change is its own art.

Managing bottom-up change is its own art.

The current understanding was that it was impossible to predict how something would evolve because...

The current understanding was that it was impossible to predict how something would evolve because...

This is actually a very important principle that science is learning about large systems like...

This is actually a very important principle that science is learning about large systems like...

Basins of attraction, of self organization, show up as well in our complex social environment,...

Basins of attraction, of self organization, show up as well in our complex social environment,...

Technological advances could allow us to see more clearly into our own lives.

Technological advances could allow us to see more clearly into our own lives.

Complexity that works is built up out of modules that work perfectly, layered one over...

Complexity that works is built up out of modules that work perfectly, layered one over...

The nature of an innovation is that it will arise at a fringe where it...

The nature of an innovation is that it will arise at a fringe where it...

Each organism's environment, for the most part, consists of other organisms.

Each organism's environment, for the most part, consists of other organisms.

It's more along the lines of raising a child: we train the system to a...

It's more along the lines of raising a child: we train the system to a...

Much of outcomes research is a systematic attempt to exploit what is known and make...

Much of outcomes research is a systematic attempt to exploit what is known and make...

It has become evident that the primary lesson of the study of evolution is that...

It has become evident that the primary lesson of the study of evolution is that...

In a broad systems sense, an organism's environment is indistinguishable from the organism itself.

In a broad systems sense, an organism's environment is indistinguishable from the organism itself.

Changing things from the top down works when things are stable.

Changing things from the top down works when things are stable.

But when you are embodied in a location, in a physical plant, in a set...

But when you are embodied in a location, in a physical plant, in a set...

Species go extinct because there are historical contraints built into a given body or a...

Species go extinct because there are historical contraints built into a given body or a...

The great advance of personal computers was not the computing power per se but the...

The great advance of personal computers was not the computing power per se but the...

It's generally much easier to kill an organization than to change it substantially.

It's generally much easier to kill an organization than to change it substantially.

When a system is in turbulence, the turbulence is not just out there in the...

When a system is in turbulence, the turbulence is not just out there in the...