Disruptive Consulting Inc

The purpose of this page is to introduce an approach to organisation design based on Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS). We've used this model with large international companies for over thirty years and have applied it to major construction projects within the "confines" of the usual hierarchically designed organisations. This new approach is critical for young, fast-growing technology companies that will soon lose the effectiveness of direct founders' hands-on management. As the author of two books written in the mid-1990s on CAS theory—one explaining the elements of the theory as applied to organisation design and the second fleshing out how to approach a transformation—I can tell you that we are now in an era of disruptive technologies that is making this model an urgent need rather than a leading-edge approach. It is now a survival approach. A new intensive (i.e. short and compact) introduction is about 80 pages instead of the combined total of about 600 pages of the first two books. This is highly recommended reading if you are ready to take on transformation. I started a new series of books with Adrian Brown in 2021, taking this work to new levels in the areas of organisation design, management, leadership and platform technology. This approach to operations, rooted in entrepreneurship, is not limited by company size. It is designed to be scalable and adaptable, making it suitable for companies of any size. What makes this a current necessity is the speed of technological development, which is exponential. Traditional organisational models, particularly large ones, cannot obtain, process, and apply those technologies with old structures. A patchwork of teams, projects, and better feedback will not suffice anymore. An organisation is a complex adaptive system, but few follow the design principles of being an effective organisation for complexity. Mike passed away on February 19th.