Embracing the Flow
Untapped Streams of Organisational Change
By Monica Leon
Articulating my approach to organisational change and development has been an ongoing process. It draws on my experiences as an internal OD practitioner, my formal MSOD education and human systems dynamics, combined with insights from Edgar Morin’s complex thought, complex responsive processes, and the principles and applications of distributed control from Liberating Structures.
Perspectives on adult mind development, power dynamics, participative organisational design, and other frameworks continue to shape and refine this approach over time. In one recent engagement, clients referred to this approach as Gentle Change—a way of working that embraces the natural flow of organisational dynamics to support sustainable and adaptive evolution.
The Context
Applied complexity theories have traditionally thrived in non-profit and governmental sectors, addressing issues like poverty, climate change, and civil society. These fields inherently acknowledge complexity, with their interconnected challenges, temporary power dynamics, and diverse stakeholder goals often influenced by external forces like weather, conflict, or political shifts.
Some businesses, especially large-scale operations, have adopted complexity theory. However, they often gravitate towards a concept called "complexity reduction."
Complexity Reduction and Absorption
In their 1999 article, "Organizations as Adaptive Systems in Complex Environments," Boisot and Child explore two strategies for navigating complexity: complexity reduction and complexity absorption. While the article focuses on China and Western contexts, its insights are widely applicable.
Complexity Reduction simplifies how organisations interpret complex environments. By developing standardised routines and codified knowledge, this approach streamlines decision-making and reduces cognitive load.
Complexity Absorption takes a contrasting stance, embracing complexity's multifaceted nature. It promotes building networks and relationships that support diverse responses, encouraging flexibility rather than rigid singularity. I will also add different perspectives and take note of what is actually happening at this moment.
These strategies are primarily studied in the context of external adaptation, yet they hold valuable lessons for organisational change.
Organisational Change and Complexity
Heraclitus famously observed, "Everything changes and nothing stands still." His metaphor of the river—"One cannot step into the same river twice"—illustrates the constant flux of life. Yet, many contemporary approaches to organisational change resist this natural flow.
Current change methods often resemble complexity reduction, emphasising structured plans, stakeholder engagement, and performance alignment. While effective in stabilising operations, these strategies risk stagnation in a world defined by continuous change.
By contrast, complexity absorption is coherent with organisations' inherent dynamism, viewing them as adaptive systems. Rather than focusing on fixed outcomes, it emphasises ongoing adaptation through networks, relationships, and emergent possibilities. This processual perspective fosters sustainable change by leveraging present dynamics and potential rather than imposing predetermined goals.
Gentle Change: A Complexity Absorption Approach
Gentle change starts with understanding existing organisational patterns—the interactions and relationships that create recurring and emerging dynamics. Using the human systems dynamics (HSD) inquiry process, we identify and explore these patterns, considering not only what is happening now but also what has led to the present state.
This approach expands to challenge our own heuristic biases, fostering curiosity about the process of becoming and the tensions that arise. Gentle change seeks to navigate these fluxes, emphasising emergence over control.
Numerous researchers have explored François Jullien's insights into the Daoist concept of "shi" and its influence on Chinese strategy-making. This concept bridges the Western divide between theory and practice, presenting them as inseparable parts of a unified flow. Like the banks of a river guiding its current, "shi" reveals how potential naturally emerges within each situation. In the realm of complexity absorption, this perspective reframes success—not as control imposed from above but as the ability to recognise and harness the inherent possibilities of a given context, enabling more fluid and adaptive responses.
Monica Leon is an experienced OD practitioner, facilitator and coach who believes in tapping into the collective wisdom to co-create. Monica supports her clients in crafting flexible strategies to tackle complexity and uncertainty. She has worked, lived and studied in four continents. Monica currently lives and works in Auckland, New Zealand.