Industry,government and every institution runs on a “system” established by theminds and hearts of the “people” within the system.
The system is based on past experience and usually copies the“system” of others in similar markets. However, every “system” isbeing pushed to change in order to adapt to the disruptive nature ofchanges happening globally.
A system cannot change itself. Any changes made toa system, are by definition, part of that system. The drive to changemay come from outside but the resistance to change always comes frominside.
Everyone who wants to move the system to improve. However a majordisruption is needed to break it from its current cycle, tearing itaway from the attraction of its old state until it is captured by a newstate. This usually occurs because of an outside force. A systemcannot change itself and if the eco-system is being disrupted by theactivity of outside forces that don’t fit the mindsets and hearts ofthe internal forces then the disruption is rejected and discounted. Tobreak away from an old system and adopt a new system requiresrecognition of the need to change, knowledge to make the change andleaders to lead the change.
New knowledge comes from outside the system. Knowledge required tomake drastic changes comes from those who are not part of the oldsystem. If new knowledge can only come from out side the system thento acquire the needed knowledge means you have to go to those who thinkand reside outside your system.
Where And What Is Outside Your “System of Thinking”?
New knowledge can be seen as an act of creativity, complexitysuggests that creativity is an emergent property of a complex adaptivesystem. Creativity flourishes in what is called the “shadow system“.Shadow systems occur outside the exiting system and is essentiallycentered around the fringes of conversational exchanges from other thanthose within the center of an “existing system“.
Shadow systems act in a dynamic state flipping from stability to chaos and back – complexity. Sound familiar?No, then just take sometime and examine the emerging market ofconversations fueled by “social media”. It doesn’t make sense to manybecause it is a “shadow system” emerging and pushing against all oldsystems of beliefs.
Most existing knowledge has come from within an old system SO anynew knowledge outside of the “system” is rejected because it doesn’tfit the mental models that the old system believes is true. Theimportance of “shadow systems” is that it breeds innovation. Innovation is the exploitation of creativity. Creativity drives newknowledge. New knowledge comes from outside the legitimate system and is more likely found within the “shadow system”.
It is called the “shadow system” because it isn’t evident to most rather only to a few.Believers in the old system can’t comprehend the values of the “shadowsystem” because the complexity doesn’t neatly fit into theunderstandings, values and metrics created by the existing system. Themarket of conversations fueled by social media simply do not fit intounderstandings, values and metrics of traditional mindsets and models.Traditional mindsets and models want to measure social media in termsof revenue. The “shadow system” understands the values and metrics ofconversational currency fueled by the rate of interest and change. Themore interest in the “shadow system” the greater the rate of change. Have you noticed how fast all markets are adopting social media?
What used to take decades or even centuries to create “systemic change”is now being perpetuated by the increased rate of interest. The rate ofinterest is an indicator of just how attractive the “shadow system” isto those wishing to replace the old system. Interest fuels rates ofchange and the rate of change is overtaking the existing system. Don’tbelieve it? Stop and think about the things that have changed withinthe last six months and the speed (rate) at which these things havechanged.
The “shadow system” will eventually replace the old system. History shows that “shadow systems” end up replacing old system and become the new system.
What say you?