This news story on NPR caught my attention because of the ways it talks reshaping complex systems, (in the story context they are talking about the network of intelligence community (national, international, state and local intelligence collection efforts ..CIA to the local Sheriff). In many ways the progressive and environmental movement are struggling with the same questions.
The story by Larry Abramson possibly opened up some new places to mine for insights into “turning around the progressive movement”. The article looks at the recommendations from the 9-11 commissions and tries to find if there is anything “new” there. “If your tired of hearing about how government needs to share information, you are not the only one. Information sharing is really only another way to say communications.” It has become a new maxim that government needs to share information to win the war on terror."
Bruce Schneier (uber-hacker “Secrets and Lies” book) says the current focus on big organizational chart is all wrong. Bruce suggests it is much more important to look at the workflow and data flow. (We have a few years of data and now we can measure change. Is data moving where it needs to be?) This is really solid view that in the new networked world organizations and hierarchies should matter less and specific changes in the resources and information that flows throughout the network is what matters. (This is a ripe area for thinking about the silos of niche interest groups workin in an information vacuum...How many of the millions of dollars in polling done by the environmental movement do you have access to? What about the cross -tab data and the analysis of polling done by ACT or DNC?)
Larry also interviews an organizational psychologists, Kathleen Sedciff (?) who starts to slam on the big picture turn around language and encourages planners to focus on outcomes not on organizations. Kathleen states an obvious (but useful) observation that it is essential to develop solutions to short term problems to develop interim milestones. Otherwise, everyone knows that things should be different but no body knows what they are supposed to be doing. (What are your staff supposed to be doing to share information with people in other progressive groups? )
The final person interviewed is Lee Clark (Mission Improbable – added to my read list)) who suggested that the big organizations don’t encourage creative thinking and that the very largess of the organization leads to group think, norms, stagnation and complacency. Lee suggests that it is essential to look at failures and points out that it is possible with attention to learning opportunities that large organizations can evolve and shift. Lee points to the air traffic control system as a complex but dedicated to a process of learning.
