VIDEO TRANSCRIPT : INTRODUCTORY VIDEO FOR THE CONCEPT OF

SELF-ORGANIZATION
COURSE: COMPLEXIY AND MANAGEMENT
PASCALE AUGER - Associate Professor, Management, Creativity, Complexity and Uncertainty

Let us imagine a cell dividing in two, then in four, in eight, in sixteen, and keeping on developing, multiplying at an
incredible speed. Let us then imagine that at some point, cells start differentiating in a spontaneous way without any
reason. Some become bone cells and others spinal cord cells. It takes some time but it then becomes us, human beings.

This process is called morphogenesis.

Through this process, cells that are identical at first spontaneously differentiate and organize themselves in order to
create something that is alive. The fascinating fact about that is that there is no predefined plan. There is no program.
There is no outside intervention or central cells that would tell others: "You will become blood vessels while you will
become muscles." There is no such thing.

It reminds me of swarms of birds or schools of fish. You have probably already seen such images. They create waves, very
harmonious movements. I love it. It is beautiful. At the same time, they can move very fast. In this case, there is also no
leader. There is no leading fish or bird that would tell the others: "We must now turn left, then slightly right, before
making a nice wave in the front." There is no such thing.

Today, research studies show that it is the same for human beings. Some believe that life can develop itself in that way,
with the ability to organize itself. Others have studied stampedes or migrations.

There is one study that I like. They have studied 700 disasters. Very nice and huge disasters: earthquakes, tsunamis, major
floods, volcanic eruptions. They have noticed that, during every disaster, human beings found a way to create waves of
solidarity. They are created in a similar way from one disaster to another. What is the common feature between these
human waves of solidarity, cells and schools of fish?

It is the idea of self-organization.

Self-organization is the ability of a set of elements to differentiate, to spontaneously self-organize itself without any
predefined plan or outside intervention. How does it work? Each element is in direct contact with what surrounds it.
Each has the ability to adjust itself according to this environment. It creates thousands of tiny adjustments, that are
constantly created and which help new properties arise. It means that, at the level of the whole, there is a permanent
adjustment. Thus, the whole can constantly recreate itself.

This idea of mutual adjustment has already been studied for organization operation. Henry Mintzberg, a major
organizational theorist, has proved a few years ago that self-organization and mutual adjustment were the best approach
for companies to adapt themselves to complex environments. When managers try to free work, this is exactly what they
try to do: empowering everyone to make decisions and to constantly adjust themselves to the environment surrounding
them.

"The best way for companies to deal with complexity is to allow mutual adjustment.".