part I
Chaos, Order, and Self-Organizing Systems

CHAOS AND ORDER. An antithesis if there ever was one. In the presence of chaos, order takes a holiday. And order, of course, is the essential antidote for all that is chaotic. More than simple word games, however, the opposition of chaos and order takes on the proportions of the primordial mythic struggle between good and evil, light and darkness. To be on the side of order is to be on the side of right, truth, God. As for chaos, that is the domain of the devil and all his, or her, works of darkness.

On more mundane levels, the struggle between chaos and order continues. A chaotic life is to be avoided, and businesses that experience massive amounts of chaos are typically not good investments. And the key to victory is control.

Throughout history and even recently, those who take charge and exercise the maximum degree of control are the heroes and heroines of our world. From the executive suite to the flood plains of the Mississippi, the person who controls is worthy of our respect. A take-charge attitude, combined with the capacity to execute, has been a sure ticket to the corner office on the top floor. And down along the riverbanks, The Corps of Army Engineers heroically battled the mighty Mississippi into submission, all in the name of Flood Control. Or so they said.

But the mind-boggling complexity of global business has rendered micromanagement (total control) at the macro level quite absurd. And of course, the mighty Mississippi has had some nasty messages for those who really thought she could be controlled.

What if control, as we have thought about it, is delusion, and chaos, despite its unpleasant aspects, is essential for life?

Whatif—indeed.