Learning in the Intelligent Complex Adaptive System

1
Learning in the Intelligent Complex Adaptive
System

• David Bennet
• Alex Bennet
• Mountain Quest Institute
• March 20, 2002

2
The Environment

• Accelerating change
• Increasing uncertainty
• Growing complexity
• Shrinking world
• Information explosion
• Rise of the Knowledge Organization
• The changing nature of reality

3
Useful terms

• Knowledge is the human capacity (potential and
  actual ability) to take effective action in
  varied and uncertain situations.
• Intelligence is effectively perceiving,
  interpreting and responding to the environment.
• Complexity is a measure of the number of possible
  states a system can take on.
• A complex adaptive system is made up of a large
  number of self-organizing independent agents that
  seek to maximize their own goals but operate
  according to rules and in the context of
  relationships with other independent agents.

4
The ICAS

• Living system metaphor for the next generation
  knowledge organization.
• An intelligent techno-sociologically and
  ecologically adaptive organization.
• Provides sustainable high performance and
  competitive advantage.
• Emergent characteristics support adaptation and
  survival
• Individual and organizational learning are the
  foundation of the ICAS

5
ICAS Emergent Characteristics

• Organizational intelligence
• Unity and shared purpose
• Optimum complexity
• Selectivity
• Knowledge centricity
• Flow
• Permeable boundaries
• Multi-dimensionality

Learning is integral to each of these
characteristics
6
The Path to Intelligent Behavior
7
What is learning?

• Individual Learning
• The capacity of the individual to acquire the
  knowledge necessary to survive and compete in
  their environment.
• A cognitive or behavioral activity between an
  individual and their environment.
• Achieved by study, observation, cognition,
  experience, practice and developing effective
  mental models in the mind.
• Requires thinking, feeling and understanding.

• Organizational Learning
• The capacity of the organization to acquire the
  knowledge necessary to survive and compete in its
  environment.
• A social activity dependent upon relationships
  and interactions among individuals.
• Achieved when groups learn to interact, share
  their knowledge and act collectively in a manner
  that maximizes their combined capacity and
  ability to understand and take effective action.
• Requires common language, meaning, objectives and
  standards.

8
Creating the learning environment

• Individual
• Learning
• Thinking is good
• Brownbag lunches
• Moving people around
• Information L\literacy
• Learning how to learn
• Knowing

• Team
• Learning
• Open communications
• Equal participation
• Diversity of backgrounds
• Effective groupware
• Dialogue not discussion

• Organization
• Learning
• Core competencies
• Yellow pages
• Knowledge repositories
• Communities of practice
• Ba spaces
• Storytelling

9
In summary

• Knowledge is the only thing that can effectively
  respond to accelerating change, increasing
  uncertainty and higher complexity
• ICAS is one model of the new knowledge
  organization designed to support continuous
  learning and provide effective knowledge
• Organizational learning provides competitive
  advantage, core competencies and long-term
  performance.
• Team learning provides improved problem solving,
  better decisions, and better implementation
• Individual learning leads to personal growth,
  professional development and organizational
  excellence