Complex Adaptive Systems

This artefact develops a rigorous account of complex adaptive systems
as a distinct class of systems whose behaviour arises from distributed interaction,
adaptation and historical layering rather than from central design or linear causality.

It integrates systems thinking, complexity science and VUCA to explain why many
real-world environments resist prediction, absorb intervention and evolve through
drift, feedback and emergent coherence.

Core themes

Distributed and recursive causality
Emergence and non-linearity
Adaptation, learning and self-organisation
Attractors, drift and phase transitions
Historical layering and path dependence
Coherence, identity and system integrity
The limits of prediction and control

Implications

The analysis reframes leadership and intervention as forms of
stewardship rather than control, emphasising influence through
conditions, interpretation and feedback rather than directive action.

CC BY–SA 4.0 · December 2025

Artefacts