The importance of relationships in complex systems
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This triplet of short pieces, recommended by my excellent former colleague Bill Bannear, offers some great provocations around the importance of human relationships in complex systems.
Bill’s piece on relationships and emergence starts with his reflections about the challenges of working with government clients who struggle to find value in the creation of relationships as an outcome. Relationships take time, work, and constant care, and as I spend a great deal of time researching, facilitating and building relationships and networks, I understand how often that work is invisible or undervalued.
Bill suggests bringing his piece into conversation with Sam Rye’s reflections on relational infrastructure, which has some great references and clear, practical recommendations; it is something I’ll continue to ponder. He equally recommends Dave Snowden’s piece on mycorrhiza and scaffolding, which offers a new metaphor to think with (two, if you imagine that scaffolding and mycorrhiza are very different ways in) when it comes to complex systems and relationships therein. That it builds on Snowden’s Children’s Party Story (if you haven’t seen it, do!) just makes it even better!
