Surfing the Edge of Chaos: The Laws of Nature and the New Laws of Business

From best-selling author Richard Pascale, a brilliant and powerful redefinition of what everyone in business needs to know about strategy and management. Business is like nature -- a nonstop battle between the preserving forces of tradition and those of transforming change. There is no permane [...]
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From best-selling author Richard Pascale, a brilliant and powerful redefinition of what everyone in business needs to know about strategy and management. Business is like nature -- a nonstop battle between the preserving forces of tradition and those of transforming change. There is no permanent winner, only species and organizations coping with crises and challenge as best they can. Through the use of brilliant examples and parallels between business and nature, Richard Pascale provides businesspeople with a new way to think about and act on the challenges they face, one based on original thinking and decades of experience in working with companies around the world. Ten years ago, a huge fire devastated Yellowstone. It was so big and intense because for 100 years the National Park Service imposed equilibrium by quickly extinguishing fires ("Only you can prevent forest fires.") A huge layer of deadfall and debris built up and a lightening strike aided by drought and wind did damage from which Yellowstone is still recovering. Sears was the juggernaut of retailing from its founding in 1880 through the 1950s. But then it began its equivalent of "only you can prevent forest fires." Equilibrium took over and it missed everything in the marketplace until Arthur Martinez began its turnaround in the 1990s. Sears' demise took decades, but everything now hits the fan much more quickly. Surfing the Edge of Chaos provides an new way to both think about and respond to this rapidly changing world. Pascale's use of living systems as a model for business people isn't just a metaphor. It's the way it is. The managers who see companies as embodiments of nature, not as machines to be engineered, will win. THE FOUR CORNERSTONES OF LIVING SYSTEMS Equilibrium Is Death: Any system, including your company, that fails to innovate and evolve will ultimately fall prey to one that has. Innovation Occurs at the Edge of Chaos: The most truly innovative ideas in science and the arts—and in business—are found at the fringes. Self-Organization Occurs Spontaneously: Those with talent and an instinct to innovate and collaborate will seize the high ground before slower, well-established competitors even spot the hill. Systems Can't Be Directed, Only Disturbed: The idea that intelligence can be centered at the top and can issue cause and effect directives has never worked.