Leading people in a chaotic world

Abstract

The organisations in which we go about our daily lives are indeed complex. Not only does layer upon layer of sub‐groups interact within our educational organisations but also these same organisations interact with the myraid organisations that form the whole of society. Such continuous interaction at all levels in our educational organisations is part of a giant network which is in a state of flux. As leaders we need a theoretical tool to describe this perpetual evolution if we are to understand our organisations and so lead people. The link between complexity and computer simulation seems particularly promising in order to understand the many possible scenarios that may result from the evolving variables present in our educational organisations. Although theories on complexity, including chaos theory, are descriptive rather than predictive, an understanding of the way our organisations function must surely facilitate our role of administration and management.

Citation

Sullivan, T.J. (1999), "Leading people in a chaotic world", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 37 No. 5, pp. 408-423. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578239910288360