Systems Thinking, Episode #2: Complex Adaptive Systems

In my previous 2 episodes of this series on Systems Thinking, I elaborated on what systems Thinking is and on the Wicked Problems Systems Thinking is trying to solve. In this episode, I want to explore Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS).

In Systems Thinking, we observe different types of systems. There are static systems like cars and complex systems like people for instance. Opposed to static systems, complex systems behave differently under different stimuli. A car’s emergent behavior (transportation) is predictable. If we drive our car faster, we will be transported faster (limited to the system boundaries of the car itself). Humans are complex adaptive systems, which means that applying the same stimuli on the system will yield different emergent behavior. If we greet a colleague every morning with a happy “good morning!”, the same person might respond differently, depending on her mood, how busy she is, or merely the anticipation of the same stimulus.

Complex Adaptive Systems

We use the term “Complex Adaptive Systems” (CAS) for complex systems. Note that Wicked Problems are Complex Adaptive Systems too: they behave differently when repeating the same stimulus.

Some examples of CAS in the context of Scrum are: the Scrum team, the team members, scaling Scrum, zombie Scrum, the IT department, management, customers, markets, etc.