After all, one central idea of complexity theory is that rigorously controlling a complex system is impossible. You must simply set it in motion and see what happens. This is a lesson computer researchers take to very well, because their interacting programs have become so elaborate that it is impossible to know all possible outcomes of all possible combinations of computer programs. If there is one thing complexity mavens, computer wonks and business executives will agree on, it is that complex systems composed of many actors should be allowed to regulate themselves. After all, as several speakers point out, New York City never runs out of food even though no central authority runs the systems that feed it.
Ant colonies stay organized.
Stock markets seldom crash. Smith's invisible hand is hovering over this conference, so often invoked and so much praised that I start to imagine its fingers contentedly patting Mr. Morely's bald crown. A decade ago a manager might have run his plant according to a complex, top-down plan for keeping track of all the events in the manufacturing process. He might have understood the economy as driven by a few key factors, like unemployment and inflation. Nowadays, all those assumptions are under challenge.