We must follow the scientific basis for new ways of looking at an organization, and to do this we must look at the quantum theory and the chaos theory. These newer understandings of nature that I mentioned earlier have replaced classical mechanics in physics and now these newer understandings are reaching the design and management of organizations that us managers of the 21st century are going to need and understand. Chaos Theory I will begin with the chaos theory. Chaos provides insights into the nature of complex systems like health care and other organizations that respond to both feedback and feedforward in a very turbulent environment, which can be either positive or negative environment. We are living in a very chaotic world, just imagine how much more chaos is going to be created in the next ten years.
Managers have their greatest challenge lying ahead.
Characteristics of the chaos theory include unknowability and small causes. Unknowability concludes that if there is any error in measurement of a system, no matter how small, the error will eventually become comparable to the predicted values, and from that moment on your prediction will bear no useful relation to the actual behavior. Living in a chaotic world, you never know the system elements and the time-dependants that are put on them. Therefore the world is totally unpredictable and strategic leaders cannot control long term outcomes for an organization. They just have to be ready and be able to react to any problem that arises.