1. Communication and Theatre 310 Organizational Communication Systems Theory In Life, the issue is not control, but dynamic connectedness. Jantsch (p. 92)

2. System = all the parts work together to create a functional whole. Inorganic system Organic system

3. Applied to organizations: effectiveness depends on coordination of efforts.

4. Not time and space but spacetime... Or, where you stand in time determines what you will see.

5. Characteristics of living systems Open = affected by and affects environment.Open = affected by and affects environment.

6. Flexibility/ability to adapt.

7. Interdependence

8. How are organizational goals problematic?

9. Deviation counteractions Feedback?

10. Deviation amplification

11. There is no one best way to organize...

12. But some ways of organizing are more effective than others.

13. Wheatley’s chaotic organizational systems theory. No “things” = organizations are networks of interactions

14. Information is the creative energy of the universe

15. Organizations can creatively use their environments.

16. Without disorder there would be no order... Value both.

17. strange attractor = keeps organizational process within an arena (core values).

18. Ever worked in an organization with a learning disability?

19. Senge: learning organization Learning system Personal mastery (mindfulness) Flexible mental models Shared vision Team learning

20. Karl Weick: sense-making systems Members want to reduce uncertainty Enacted environment = perform Scanning = for threats/opportunities Loosely coupled = realities unaligned

21. End of Systems Session