What a mess : participation as a simple managerial, rule to `complexify' organizations - 2002

This paper adopts a view of organizations as complex adaptivesystems and makes a case for making organizations more complex internally through the use of a fairly simple managerial rule - using participative decision making. Participation in decision making enhances connectivity in organizations, which in turn, gives the organization the ooportunity to self-organize and co-evolve in more effective ways than when there is minimal connectivity (i.e., autocracy). The paper uses a specific body of research to support the arguments about why participation can benefit the practice3 of management in modern organizations