THE BUTTERFLY
Remember the story of the butterfly flapping its wings in Japan and creating a storm in San Francisco (or wherever!)
The use of the butterfly in our logo is more than a passing reference to complexity science and complexity thinking.
We were delighted to have had the opportunity to organise the first North West conference on health and complexity in 2004, on behalf of NHSU and Salford PCT. We also acted as programme organisers for the health strand of the University of Liverpool International Conference ‘Complexity, Science and Society’ in Sepember 2005.
Health and social care organisations are ‘complex adaptive systems’. Like the weather and the stock market, they are essentially unpredictable. A complex system is characterised by components that are inter-related, where action on one part of the system has consequences, including unforeseen consequences, on other parts of the system. Small changes can lead to big effects, and vice-versa.
Complexity science provides a ‘science of understanding’ that leads us to understand complex organisations differently and allows us to operate more effectively within them. To find out more, check out www.liv.ac.uk/ccr , which includes introductory lectures on complexity thinking and practice.
