Complexity, Innovation, Knowledge and Learning: A quantum interpretation of management

The spinal cord of the company

For almost one year, I have had an awfull pain in my left arm. It started slowly February last year and culminated in the summer.  On a flight back from LA (where we visited the IONS annual conference) I was literally crying.  I went through the classical medical pathway, RX, electro research of the arm, scanner, MRI, etc. All of it.  And indeed, they could observe that the nerve of the left arm was completely inflamed.  Only solution: cortisone.  And of course it improved; and of course it came back. Next step: injection of cortisone in the spine.  And there I stopped.

Those that know me, are aware that I am an ayurvedic massage therapist (also, yes). And once more I wondered why I did not belief a bit more in it myself.  Hence I went to a chiropractor, and today I am feeling fine again: it is all over.  (Thank you Valerie)

Our spinal cord is essential for our health, both physical and psychological (and sorry for the childish link, but it is clear, isn't it?) It seems that over the years that same spinal cord captures all stress and causes a number of well known back aches. But worse, as in my case, the stress of years not only fixes itself in that spinal cord, but it goes further.

A chiropractor only (what you call only) reprograms the brain.  They retrain it to stop sending out the wrong messages.  A body is a perfect example of a systemic (autopoetic) system.  It re-produces and self-organizes in such a way that is ideal for survival.  It warns you by pain that you should slow down, relax, etc, and the more we ignore that, the more the body is going to give stronger signals.  Then we take pain killers (Cortisone ?) but the body continues to send signals. Until it goes seriously wrong.

And now the company, you didn't doubt, did you. A company, just as much as our body, has a spinal cord.  That spinal cord captures all the stress of the body (the company): a company that equally is a perfect example of an autopoetic system.  It seeks reproduction and selforganisation with one aim: survival, the long term hence (and yes, not the highest shareholder value). The company sends out signals of pain, of warning, of suggested improvement, but if the management does not want to see them, that stress is going to fix itself in the corporate spinal cord. And at the end, the company, that has ignored for years the signals, is going to be completely "sclerolised". Drugs don't help anymore, we really need a thorough reprogramming. Stress is today a serious issue in many of our companies.  Do we recognise the emergence of the phenomenon? And do we see what role we play ourselves in this?

And a last question: What is the spinal cord of the company ?   

The "healthy" organisation: a real research challenge

Health in companies is increasingly an issue of growing importance for companies that gets more and more attention. Stress management, well being, or simply retaining personnel, are issues that have an important impact on corporate spending. I found a text on the Internet, nicely summarizing the issues of "healthcare for corporations", including a number of interesting references.

At Euromed Marseille, we offer our students (as an electif) a course on "the healthy organisation". This course is mainly based on ayurvedic concepts (a century old Indian holistic medical concept) (for a French reference on Ayurveda). We equally offer courses and consulting services around wellness and healthcare for organisations.  If you would have any interest, you can contact us.

It is the mind and not the legs that make the marathon winner

A short article of Christopher Clarey in the International Herald Tribune of November 4-5, 2006 (New York Marathon weekend) gives some interesting thoughts for managers. 

The marathon is a classic challenge whose concept and aura is often more compelling than its reality.  Not by accident: a remarkeble subset of managers are (hobby) marathon runners. However, as Lidia Simon says: "I think, at our level, 90 percent is from the brain; the body is really nothing".

Jeff Galloway, a former world-class distance runner turned author, once wrote he would collect "several million oxygen molecules" the night before a marathon and trap them in a small plastic sandwich bag, which he pinned to his shorts.

Deena Kastor, one of the women favorites today (winner of the 2006 London Marathon), is more inclined towards mantras in the later stages of a race. In the 2004 Athens Olympics (silver medal), she kept repeating "momentum".  In the Chicago marathon of 2005, it was "define yourself".  The words are having for her a profound meaning, different for each marathon.

Whatever the strategy, the most intruiging part of the world's favorite endurance test is not how runners' bodies allow them to complete it in nearly two hours, but how their minds enable them to manage it.

Isn't that the secret of the "sustainable manager"?

Shouldn't consciousness be the number one research issue in management?

Yes of course, I would say.  And fortunately, I am not the only one to say so.  There is a growing interest outside the management area in consciousness studies (just to mention the noetic society that I have refered earlier).  There is an interesting "public library" on conciousness research: the Association for the scientific study of consciousness. I presume that what is understood by "scientific" in this association should rather be labelled "third person investigation", as the Dalai Lama calls it. I personnally doubt whether third person investigation only, will allow us to discover a typicaly first person issue.  Another "recent" source of interest is the edited book of Susan Blackmore: Conversations on consciousness; and that is really what it is.  The view of a number of state of the art researchers in the broad area of neuroscience and philosophy.

Many ideas that all have to have their impact in any social science, and hence also in management.  Is innovation a matter of consciousness and up to what level? Should we be interested in raising the consciousness level of our management (or our employees); with what purpose; how could we do this? All questions that we for easiness do not want to address, but that might contain key elements to answer the many still open questions that we encounter in management. It is not since the question is less obvious, or rather the answer is, that we can ignore the question.

In my newest book Complexity, learning and organizations: a quantum interpretation of business I try to address some of these concerns. But I would be very interested to arrive earlier or later (and rather earlier) to really launch a research program around consciousness in management.  To be continued.

Increasing scientific interest in the Mind-Brain-Behavior relationship

As already mentioned earlier, I am a firm believer that if we would like to progress the understanding of purposefull human activity (like management, innovation, etc) we have to investigate much further (or should I say start investigating) the consciousness issue.  I share this idea with many others, just to mention the noetic society. For those interested in this issue (and I hope it are many), I would like to suggest three interesting websites (of which I have added two to my internet site links on the reading page of this blog).

The Columbia University "Mind Brain Behavior" initiative is a multidisciplinary project investigating gene function, brain wiring and behavior. The Mind and Reality blog sheds light on what is going on in Indo-Tibetan mind science today. And the third interesting site is the one of the Mind and Life Institute.  Amongst others, this site informs about the clinical use of meditation. 

I would welcome to see more of this in management research and management school curricula.  Eventually, we might get a better understanding of human behavior, what management is all about.