Complexity Thinking & Leadership : How Nonlinear Models of Human Organizing Dynamics Can Inform Management Practice

The growing field of complexity leadership argues that leadership emerges from within interactions. The specific nature of the interaction dynamics that enable organizing to emerge provides a context for leadership. Three dimensions of this complexity context are identified and described. A convergent context exists as solutions to pressing problems are sought; choosing direction and promoting efficiency become important when resources are constrained. A generative context for leadership is present when new knowledge or other resources in the environment are more plentiful; in this case, encouraging new ideas and innovations becomes a focus of leadership attention. Finally, the unifying context exists when organizational decomposition, time, space and bureaucracy complicate organizing efforts as they scale up; internal and external boundaries, the flow of knowledge and other resources across them, and the creation of a shared mission and values to hold the organization together demand the attention of leadership in this context. Propositions are developed about the nature and implications of these dimensions at three levels of analysis.