BetaCodex Network White Paper No. 16. March 2019
Authors: Niels Pflaeging & Silke Hermann
A white paper about the alternative to "change management" as we know it. Change is more like adding milk to coffee!
Organize for Complexity, part I+II - Special Edition PaperNiels Pflaeging
The future of the Organization.
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The three organizational structures, powers & leaderships: A closer look.
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Learn how to apply Agile practices to change management and organizational development. This presentation was given at the Toronto Organizational Development Network meetup in March 2014.
An agile approach to organizational development. The Acelera The Sprint is an iterative innovation process focused on the creation of value and the priorities of the organization, which compresses years of learning in just a few months, accelerating the transformation via integrated agile teams, massive collaboration as a value creation model and putting the emphasis on the development of transformative leadership and the adoption of agile methodologies and new digital ways of doing.
An organization should operate like a city. Some parts emerge bottom-up while others are designed top-down. The art of management is finding the right balance between these two approaches.
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https://management30.com/practice/meddlers/
7 Ways to Lead Digital Transformation Without Being an IT SpecialistVistage UK
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Modern Change Management - 5 Universals for ChangeJason Little
We’ve run over 450 workshops in 30 countries for over 5000 people and visited countless organizations of all sizes. We’ve discovered 5 Universals for Change that help you apply the right approach for change, at the right time.
Lean Change Agent - Applying Lean and Agile to Change ManagementJason Little
As a change agent, I’m sure you’ve experienced how difficult it can be to introduce change into an organization. That could mean you’re an Agile Coach or Scrum Master tasked with introducing Agile, and it can also mean you’re a Change Management Professional who is looking for more effective ways to develop and execute change programs.
This 2-day workshop, based on the book Lean Change Management, is designed to help you discover more effective practices for introducing, and managing change in your organization. You’ll learn by doing, not by reading PowerPoint slides! You’ll hear real stories about how to apply better, innovative practices to managing change.
11th paper from the BetaCodex Network, on organizational structures and how they interact. This paper was previously entitled "The 3 Structures of an Organization". It was renamed February 2013.
An overview of Systems Thinking, and how to apply the ideas of Complexity Theory to management of systems, with the results being called "Complexity Thinking".
This presentation is part of the Management 3.0 course created by Jurgen Appelo.
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Introduces the framework, process and core principles for Theory U by Otto Scharmer. If you have been following Scharmer and Peter Senge's recent work, this is an accessible intro to activating change management.
Metrics at Every (Flight) Level [2020 Agile Kanban Istanbul FlowConf]Matthew Philip
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Organizational change often stalls out at departmental boundaries, whether that is IT or another division. How do we help organizations connect vertically and horizontally to realize the outcomes that they have when undertaking large-scale change efforts?
Join this session to learn from a case study of a bank that combined flight levels and metrics to bridge their departmental boundaries and recognize gains not only in software delivery effectiveness but unifying higher-level strategy.
Learn how to apply Agile practices to change management and organizational development. This presentation was given at the Toronto Organizational Development Network meetup in March 2014.
An agile approach to organizational development. The Acelera The Sprint is an iterative innovation process focused on the creation of value and the priorities of the organization, which compresses years of learning in just a few months, accelerating the transformation via integrated agile teams, massive collaboration as a value creation model and putting the emphasis on the development of transformative leadership and the adoption of agile methodologies and new digital ways of doing.
An organization should operate like a city. Some parts emerge bottom-up while others are designed top-down. The art of management is finding the right balance between these two approaches.
Learn more:
https://management30.com/grow-structure/scaling-structure/
https://management30.com/practice/meddlers/
7 Ways to Lead Digital Transformation Without Being an IT SpecialistVistage UK
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Modern Change Management - 5 Universals for ChangeJason Little
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Lean Change Agent - Applying Lean and Agile to Change ManagementJason Little
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An overview of Systems Thinking, and how to apply the ideas of Complexity Theory to management of systems, with the results being called "Complexity Thinking".
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http://www.management30.com/course-introduction/
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Metrics at Every (Flight) Level [2020 Agile Kanban Istanbul FlowConf]Matthew Philip
Slides as presented on Dec 8, 2020 at FlowConf organized by Agile Kanban Istanbul. https://www.flowconf.com/
Organizational change often stalls out at departmental boundaries, whether that is IT or another division. How do we help organizations connect vertically and horizontally to realize the outcomes that they have when undertaking large-scale change efforts?
Join this session to learn from a case study of a bank that combined flight levels and metrics to bridge their departmental boundaries and recognize gains not only in software delivery effectiveness but unifying higher-level strategy.
“Change alone is eternal...” ... said the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer as early as at the beginning of the 19th century. And as the pace and magnitude of change have increased exponentially through the succeeding two centuries, those words are more relevant than ever.
Paradoxically, the well-established recognition of change as a fundamental part of our lives has not made it easier for us to handle it, that being as individuals, groups, organisations, nations – or mankind. We have come to the conclusion that this is due to the fact that there simply are no easy answers to the many questions and the apparently endless number of paradoxes that are the constant companions of change. Thus, it is no coincidence that 2/3 of all change initiatives do not realise the stipulated goals.
It is a given that organizational change affects people. It is people, not processes or technology, who embrace or not a situation and carry out or neglect corresponding actions. People will help build what they create.
Organizational Change Management Paper
Contents
Your paper MUST follow this outline:
Identify and describe a failed organizational change
Identify and describe one organizational change theory
Apply the theory above to the failed change above
In General
Strict APA formatting
Minimum three professional sources
Full use of in-text citations
8-10 pages on content
Title page
Running head
Table of Contents
Reference page
Due Date
Due by the 7th class meeting at class time
Late papers will suffer a 10% grade reduction
Managing Organizational Change
By Michael W. Durant, CCE, CPA
The increased pace of change that many of us have encountered over the past ten years
has been dramatic. During the late 1980s, many of us were grappling with issues that we
had never encountered. The accelerated use of leverage as a means of increasing
shareholder wealth left the balance sheet of some of America’s finest organizations in
disarray. Many of our largest customers, that for years represented minimal risk and
required a minimum amount of time to manage, consumed most of our energy. By the end
of 1993, many of these organizations had either resolved their financial troubles in
bankruptcy court or no longer existed.
Just as we began to think the external environment would settle down and our
professional lives would return to a normal pace, many of our organizations initiated
efforts to improve operating efficiency to become more competitive in the world
marketplace.
Competition has heated up across the board. To succeed, the organization of the future
must serve customers better, create new advantages and survive in bitterly contested
markets. To stay competitive, companies must do away with work and processes that
don’t add value.
This hypercompetition has invalidated the basic assumptions of sustainable markets.
There are few companies that have escaped this shift in competitiveness. Entry barriers,
which once exerted a stabilizing force on competition, have fallen in the face of the rapid
changes of the information age. These forces have challenged our capacity to cope with
organizational life.
Permanent White Water
Things are not going to settle down. Many things we used to take for granted are
probably gone forever. We cannot predict with any certainty what tomorrow will be like,
except to say that it will be different than today.
Peter Vaill has captured the essence of the problem of a continuously changing context in
a compelling image - “permanent white water.” In the past, many of us believed that by
using the means that were under our control we could pretty much accomplish anything
we set out to do. Sure, from time to time there would be temporary disruptions. But the
disruptions were only temporary, and things always settled back down. The mental image
generated by these thoughts is that of a canoe trip on a calm, still lake.
However, Vaill explains, in today’s environment, we never get out of the rapids. As soon
as we digest one .
A big part of process improvement is managing the transition. Many books have been written about how to do this, yet there is a paucity of strategies that can be tied to real life variables. In this Appendix to our book (in translation from Spanish) we explore such strategies and suggest a parsimonious approach whenever possible.
The “Course Topics” series from Manage Train Learn and Slide Topics is a collection of over 4000 slides that will help you master a wide range of management and personal development skills. The 202 PowerPoints in this series offer you a complete and in-depth study of each topic. This presentation is on "Responding to Change".
Hurricane change 3 methods for preparing for disruptive change in businessMatthew Hawkins
Business transformation can be disruptively beautiful. It usually leaves a path of destruction on it's way to creating a better organization. The challenge is that it inflicts significant change on people. Are there ways to better prepare for it? Yes. We'll examine 3 things you can do to prepare for disruptive change in your business.
UNDERSTANDING AND COPING WITH CHANGEUNDERSTANDING AND COPING WI.docxMARRY7
UNDERSTANDING AND COPING WITH CHANGE
UNDERSTANDING AND COPING WITH CHANGE 2
Title
Students Name
Course Name and Number
Instructor
Submission Date
Abstract
Progressions are sure to happen and we are certain to adjust, else we die. As normally well said: "Adjust or Perish". The world is always showing signs of change along these lines are innovation, propensities, and mentalities and so on.
The reality of the matter is that individuals dread progressions. Actually, it is liberated intelligence to fear as well as oppose progressions. Whether progressions are, no doubt brought without anyone else's input, a relative, government officials and strategy creators or by managers, individuals tend to take a gander at them with a great deal of concern. There are a ton of theories which now and again may prompt misgivings, dissatisfactions and even a great deal of cases.
The primary motivation behind why progressions produces trepidation is on the grounds that they are connected with instability. While everybody thinks about the changes that will be achieved, it is regularly truly hard to measure the suggestions on such changes. On top of that, different varieties of theories that come about don't generally help in tolerating such changes effortlessly. A change is more often than not arranged, in view of specific conditions overarching around then and these conditions "anticipate" what the change will bring about. In any case, such conditions might themselves no more exist when the change is executed, in this way changing the wanted results.
Notwithstanding the alarm they create, progressions require not so much be awful. Indeed, changes are inescapable, whether great or awful. Yet, a great change for somebody may be awful for another person and the other way around. In all cases, what truly matters is the route in which one adapts to changes.
Cases of progressions in life
Brought without anyone else present: Enrolling for a college course, accepting work, moving occupations, leaving ones folks' home, leaving ones nation, getting ready for marriage, getting hitched, getting to be parent.
Brought by a relative: These incorporate wedding of a relative, a relative going out for another one, a relative leaving the nation, leaving the family business, entering governmental issues, conception or passing of a relative.
Changes in the public eye by government officials and strategy producers: Changing the expense framework, forcing diverse sorts of expenses, giving social helps, changes in laws and regulations, arrangement of clergymen, bans on specific works on, giving allows and licenses to specific sorts of organizations to be set up.
Brought by the managers: Changes in the progression, giving advancements, changing the wages and compensations structure, changing work conditions, changing administration styles, developments in i ...
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From Now to New Right Here: Change-as-Flipping (BetaCodex16)
1. NEW
NOW
BetaCodex Network Associates
Niels Pflaeging & Silke Hermann
BetaCodex Network White Paper No. 16 I March 2019 I betacodex.org/white-papers
FROM NOW TO NEW,
RIGHT HERE:
CHANGE-AS-FLIPPING
2. Change-as-Flipping:
The alternative to Change Management,
the alternative to planned or imposed change
Change agents around the world have been imagining change
as projects, programs, planned exercises. They have come to
think of change-related work as stuff to be kicked off,
implemented and executed. We have interpreted change as
difficult ventures, as endlessly long hikes, and as exhaustive
trips. No more: Here are five key insights into the true nature of
change, and into how to create profound, transformational
change, effortlessly and fast. Sounds impossible? Then check
out these concepts for a more constructive and robust alternative
to change management, or planned change, as you know it.
Insight 1. Change is not a journey - instead, it is constant flipping
Insight 2. There is no such thing as Resistance to Change -
only smart responses to dumb methods
Insight 3. The problem is in the system - almost always
Insight 4. Org change is socially dense –
technique is (almost) trivial
Insight 5. The is no such thing as transformation -
instead, everything s an intervention
Most of us are used to approach
organizational development with
project management, or change
management methods.
But there is an alternative.
Change
Management
Change-
as-Flipping
3. Insight 1.
Change is not a journey -
instead, it is constant flipping
The most widely used metaphors of change liken change in
organizations to a journey from the current state (often labeled
status quo) to the desired state (a.k.a. vision). The desired
state, in these metaphors, is seen as a place out there in the
future. Or as a north star—never quite to be reached. We tend
to believe that change-as-a-journey has to be long and
arduous. That it is hard and dangerous. Consequently, armed
with delusional maps, project plans, or blueprints, we embark
on what we imagine will be a long and difficult expedition. We
start to foresee all sorts of obstacles – most of which do not
actually exist, as we will see later in this paper. But we find
ourselves believing that the milestones we invented are real,
and we get anxious when they don’t appear on the horizon.
This approach misrepresents change as a controllable process
composed of a sequence of discrete stages, phases or steps;
and it deludes us into thinking we have to make a map for
getting from the current state of affairs to the desired state. It
is clear that this approach also trivializes change. We call this
flawed approach to bringing about the new Planned Change.
By framing change as a journey,
we fall into the trap of mistaking
organizational development with
a complicated problem
4. Planned Change has profound consequences for what
we commonly think change management is all about:
Which is of course planning & controlling the change
journey. The journey metaphor, however, tricks us into
ignoring the possibility that desired change might be
accomplished quickly, with little effort, right now, with
existing resources and with minimal disruption. The
metaphor itself makes change hard. Set that against a
different assumption:
Profound transformation never takes more than
two years—regardless if it´s about an
organization with 20 people, or 200.000.
Or: Imagine spilling a tiny bit of milk into coffee. With this
tiny nudge, a new pattern is instantly being created: It
will be altogether different from the original one, which
was “pure coffee”. The change is permanent: There is no
way of returning to the first pattern.
Change is like adding milk to coffee.
Organizational change is
more like adding milk to coffee.
5. This is much more similar to what organizational change
actually resembles, rather than calling change a journey.
The change-as-adding-milk-to-coffee is thus a more helpful
metaphor than the widespread notion of seeing change as a
“journey from here to there”.
It means to envision activities related to organizational
development, or change work as flips from Now (the current
state) to New (the desired state). What is important: Both the
Now and the New are in the present, not in the future!
The New can be produced right here, right now.
Profound change, different from problem solving, requires a
sequence of flips. Or many flips.
Creating profound change means sequenced flipping
the system from Now to New—right here, right now.
A thousand times or more.
NEW
NOW
Change-as-Flipping calls for
intentionally intervening on an
organization´s system.
Many many times.
6. Insight 2.
There is no such thing as Resistance to Change -
only smart responses to dumb methods
The man who invented Resistance to Change is Kurt Lewin,
arguably. Lewin, the brilliant founder of social psychology and of
the field of organizational change as such, introduced the term
resistance as a systems concept: as a force affecting managers
and employees equally. Unfortunately, only the terminology, but
not the context, became popularized later: We now cast resistance
as a psychological, or an individualized issue, usually personalizing
it as “employees versus managers”.
In this mental model, it is always the others. Employees resist, top
management “isn´t fully committed”, stakeholders “don´t get it”.
We judge others saying things like: They have an interest in
preserving the status quo. The They is very important, of course.
The resistance assumption is implicitly presumptuous. It will
always lead to blaming, not progress. As long as we accept the
mental model of “they against us”, and of “people resisting the
change itself”, this belief will misinform our understanding of
change dynamics, perpetuating command-and-control
organizational models and misery at work. It would be better to let
go of the term Resistance to Change and embrace other, more
Change dynamics are complex
& rich. Flippantly tagging
people´s behavior in changing
situations as “resistance to
change”, and people as
“resisters” is a huge mistake.
7. helpful mental models for change. Let´s give it a try:
People do not resist change.
Can you say that to yourself, in your head? Now that is a start. But
what is behind the strange behavior, then, that we are observing
all the time, in our change efforts, if it is not resistance to change?
Take a step back and you will see that people actually act
consciously and intelligently (overall), towards other things than
the change itself. They may resist loss of status and power—
which is quite intelligent. They may resist injustice, stupidity and
being changed. Which is also intelligent. The change may also
cause need for learning that is not properly addressed. All of these
are things that we really should deal with when developing
organizations: power structures, status, injustice, consequence,
our own stupidity, top-down command-and-control, and learning.
Instead of watching out for the possibility of resistance, we should
watch out for common mistakes in implementing change and deal
with the perfectly natural reactions to (our) poor interventions.
To humans, the change itself
is not the problem. It is lousy
change methods they resist!
8. In other words:
The more resistance to change you observe,
the more likely it is that your methods suck.
Let us be clear: The notion that people resist change is not held up by
social sciences. It is actually completely opposed to our scientific
knowledge about human capability to change (Alan Deutschman
wrote a wonderful, summarizing book about this). It is a fairy-tale that
people resist the change, or that people find change itself hard or
problematic. It is a toxic myth that people are supposedly afraid of
change, or that they have comfort zones:
People, just like their contexts, change all the time!
What we observe, then, are symptoms of struggle with adaption and
with the new which should never be confused with resistance to the
change´s intent. Once you start the kind of projection that confuses
behavior in situations of adaptation with resistance, that is when trouble
starts. As humans, we tend to have a hard time imagining future
possibilities, though. This is why change efforts have to deal with the
need for imagination, or visioning. With creating insight, or learning.
Are people the problem, in
change and organizational
development, or is it our
change methods that usually
are the problem?
9. Insight 3.
The problem is in the system -
almost always
If resistance does not come from people, then where does it reside?
Resistance is much more likely to be found in the organization´s
system. Edwards W. Deming said: “94% of the problems in business
are system-driven and only 6% are people-driven.” Which means: If
the problem is in the system, almost always, then change should
mostly be about working on the system.
Removing obstacles in the system to promote profound change is
clearly easier than introducing entirely new features, rituals or
memes within a given system. This is what makes Organizational
Hygiene, another concept, or Complexitool we created in the
BetaCodex Network, such a compelling idea. But whether you are
removing something, or introducing something new while flipping
from Now to New: Intervening for change effectively in organizations
requires specific, targeted action—not blaming. Which means: If the
anticipated change will result in the loss of status by some
employees, then we must develop strategies for dealing with that
loss of status. Likewise, if the interventions will result in the loss of
jobs, that issue must be dealt with. If the change will result in the
need for learning, then let´s take care of that.
You can blame the ball,
of course. A more systemic
reaction would be to ask:
“What in the design of the
game allowed that to happen?”
10. If the change will come at a cost, then there should be space for
emotions and mourning. Labeling these difficult, real-life problems
as resistance to change only impedes the change effort.
Resistance from people towards interventions then becomes a self-
fulfilling prophecy. Put differently:
Change work done well does not produce losers.
Only consequences.
Power interests are also very real and often ignored by change
agents. And they shouldn´t. John Kotter, another one or our
heroes, stated that individual resistance out of self-interest exists,
but that it is “rare“. More often, he said, the obstacle is in the
organization’s structure or in a “performance appraisal system
[that] makes people choose between the new vision and their own
self-interest”. In other words:
What we interpret as resistance to change
is usually an intelligent response to inconsistencies
between the organizational model
and the desired state.
We do not need revolution.
We only have to create
coherent systems that differ
from command-and-control
systems. Simple as that.
11. Change work, in this sense, is successive re-negotiation of the
organizational model—not revolution! Kotter´s “NoNo” has good
reasons, in his own mind, to oppose the change—reasons that are
probably triggered by the current system, not the individual´s
twisted psyche. Again: What we observe, then, should ultimately be
coined lack of consequence, not resistance to change.
Which all leads us back to the conclusion: In change-as-constant-
flipping, we must work the system, not the people. Diverting from
this path leads to blaming, and almost inevitable to self-induced
failure of our change efforts.
Do we want to continue
working the people, or do we
want to start working the
system, together?
12. Insight 4.
Org change is socially dense -
technique is (almost) trivial
The idea of Change-as-Flipping, or Emergent Change, or continuous
flipping from Now to New acknowledges that change happens within
complex patterns that cannot be fully predicted or controlled—but
only observed. One of the first to describe this kind of thinking on
change coherently was John Kotter. His Leading Change approach
from the 1990s neatly outlined profound change as dense, social
movement: The collective, emergent side of change, so to speak.
The element that was still missing from this change approach is the
individual side of change. By which we do not mean mere individual
learning, or growth, but the need for individual adaptation that
members of an organization must undergo to make flips happen or
when flips happen. Adding the individual side of org change to the
collective side, one starts to perceive change as multi-dimensional.
We call this the double helix nature of change.
Many change agents are enamored with their method of choice.
Many of us like to believe that this or that method or tool is
wonderful, effective and impactful.
Change-as-Flipping, however, is based on the assumption that:
Organizational change is of
“double helix nature”: It has a
collective and an individual
string – neither to be ignored.
Individual change follows
collective change – not the
other way around!
13. Relationship is everything, method is secondary!
There are many decent, or effective methods, but what really matters
is not the methods we employ, but that our methods impact the
relationships between the parts of the system, as Russell Ackoff
would say. Creating different relationships within the system, and of
higher quality, that is the point of Change-as-Flipping.
While Change-as-Flipping aims at the interactions
between the parts (of the system), it acknowledges both
the individual and the collective side of change.
Many methods may help achieving that. In fact, the more complex
the problem is, the more complex, or social, the method must be.
Nothing is worse than crystallized method—or “dead” method,
applied to living problems.
Method must always be appropriately complex, and social.
We have explored this aspect of change and complexity-robust
method further in our Secrets of Very Fast Organizational
Transformation paper (BetaCodex white paper No. 15).
Organizational development
is all about interactions, or
about the communication
between the parts. Change
the interactions, and the
system will change!
14. Insight 5.
The is no such thing as transformation -
instead, everything s an intervention
We are guilty. We are guilty of talking about transformation
ourselves. A lot, to be honest. And we enjoyed it! We
sometimes like to say things like: “Organizations should
transform from the organizational model of the industrial age
(“Alpha”) to a contemporary, complexity-robust one
(“Beta”).” We keep saying that kind of thing, occasionally,
even though we know the term transformation is neither
helpful, nor accurate. Sometimes we just can´t help it!
The truth, however, is probably closer to:
There is no transformation. Never, ever. Because:
Constant flipping is the only thing there is in change.
This is consistent with the old adage Everything is an inter-
vention. Which is one of the most beautiful things that has
ever been said about organizational development and change
(which, by itself, is probably a rather misleading term, too).
That everything is an intervention does not mean that every
intervention is good in itself. It merely highlights that
everything, really everything, influences, or potentially flips an
organization.
Everything is an intervention.
And if you want it to be a
particularly good one, make it
one that flips the organization
from Alpha to Beta!
15. Instead of change management, we should practice the craft of
change as exercising constructive irritation—as we like to say in
systems theory. According to systems theory, the only thing you
can do is to irritate a system. Then observe the consequences and
ripple effects. Then irritate again. Then observe. And so on.
Any irritation can flip the system into the New state. If you are lucky
and if the irritation was smart enough, that New state is a form of
desired state.
In any case: irritate again. This is never supposed to be over. It´s
not a journey, remember? Welcome to the world of, well:
Eternal flipping.
NEW
NOW
While change management
usually leads to “working the
people”, the Change-as-
Flipping consistently adheres to
“working the system, together.”
16. About this paper. Further reading recommendations
This white paper is based on the article Now to New: How to Flip Your Company
to Perpetual Beta, published by Niels Pflaeging in January 2015. The article was edited
and expanded, and illustrations added. The illustrations were taken from the Organize for
Complexity and Complexitools books. They were crafted by Pia Steinmann, pia-steinmann.de.
We recommend the following, related papers, articles and books:
• BetaCodex Network white paper No. 11: Org Physics – Explained, 2011
• BetaCodex Network white paper No. 15:
Secrets of Very Fast Organizational Transformation (VFOT), 2019
• Dent, Eric: Challenging “Resistance to Change”,
from: Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 35 (1), 25-41.
• Deutschman, Alan: Change or Die, 2007
• Kotter, John: Leading Change, 1996
• Leith, Jack Martin: The “flipping” and “Now to New” wording/
idea from this article were inspired by Jack´s wonderful writing.
• Pflaeging, Niels: Organize for Complexity, 2015
• Pflaeging, Niels/Hermann, Silke: Complexitools, 2019
17. 17
Find all BetaCodex Network white papers on betacodex.org/white-papers and on Slideshare.
The BetaCodex Network white papers so far
18. www.betacodexpublishing.com
BetaCodex Publishing books so far
Organize for Complexity
Niels Pflaeging
2015
Also available in German,
Portuguese, Turkish
Complexitools
Niels Pflaeging I Silke Hermann
2019
Also available in German
OpenSpace Beta
Silke Hermann I Niels Pflaeging
2018
19. www.BetaCodex.org
Get in touch with us for more information about Beta
and about how to bring about BetaCodex organizations.
Niels Pflaeging
Niels.Pflaeging@RedForty2.com
Silke Hermann
Silke.Hermann@RedForty2.com