The key agents of adaptation are usually those people who are exposed to the raw forces of change. Those who work at the 'coal face' experience the forces and encounter the raw options which the organisation might eventually exploit, if it were to know about them, or recognise them. Oversight and adaptive, innovative action is central to what many call the 'knowledge economy', and at the heart of this lies analysis and communication of the structural issues that are driving change. Since its foundation in 1995, the Forum has been a centre of expertise in meeting these challenges of analysis and action which all of this implies. We believe that no complex organisation can change in a purposefully way unless its understands the dynamics which shape its operating environment.
Complex organisations face rapidly changing and vastly complex times.
They need stronger 'higher brain functions', yet many have downsized themselves repeatedly and some rely exclusively on external help, on journalism and top-table tittle tattle in order to shape their thoughts. Given the stakes, and given the penalties for being wrong, this cannot be a sensible approach. The Forum helps organisations to pool what they individually know, and it allows them to set priorities about the thinks that they would like to investigate. People who work with us become informed. A very large body of knowledge is gradually accumulated, allowing a balanced perspective to be taken that is denied to outsiders.