Using Complexity in change

Just having a think about change and how that is worked through and managed by people. I am currently working with a group in transition…a group who traditionally operates in a linear sense…absolute predictabilty and hierarchy. The notion is that the higher up you are the more legitimacy you have. Interestingly, introducing them to some more networked approaches has worked wonders as they have embraced the power of network and are asking for more.  To effect this I am using Cognitive Edge techniques, pioneered by Dave Snowden.  This is helping them build a knowledge repository , identify issues and own their own problem solving through issues identification and distributed cognition. I am quite excited by it as I really wondered if it would gain traction in an organisation that is so hierarchically driven.