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A great American author passed away last night–Kurt Vonnegut died at the age of 84. If you haven’t read any of his work, you’ve missed out on some of the most creative, funny, and touching stories of the last century. Cat’s Cradle blows me away every time I think about it. He was a true genius.

In 1995 when I was looking to purchase a domain name I settled on gokubi.com after reading Vonnegut’s Galapagos, where gokubi was his name for a gadget from the future. It was an instant translator, allowing people of different languages to communicate. For no real reason other than his creativity grabbed me, I grabbed the domain name.

Take this opportunity to read some Vonnegut: Cat’s Cradle, Slaughterhouse Five, and Breakfast of Champions are all wonderful.

The most fitting Vonnegut quote for today is clearly this,

And if I should ever die, God forbid, I hope you will say, “Kurt is up in heaven now.” That’s my favorite joke.

I just got a copy of Peter Schwartz’s book The Art of the Long View on the recommendation of Brooks Jordan. It’s about scenario planning and contingent thinking. I’m looking forward to reading it even if Condi Rice said this today:

“It’s bad policy to speculate on what you’ll do if a plan fails when you’re trying to make a plan work.”

At the end of 2006 I read Critical Mass by Philip Ball. It’s an award winning book (that has tons of reviews online) about how the tools of the science of physics have been used to look at human systems. I was a biology major in college and have always loved science and the scientific method. Ball tells a fascinating history of how science has been looking at “non-scientific” questions of human behavior for centuries.

Critical Mass was a riveting read. Fascinating work has been done in studying the economy with statistical-physics-based tools. Turns out the economy is complex. But the most interesting part of Critical Mass is how research has been looking into what that complexity looks like.

Economists have been talking about the business cycle just about as long as capitalism has been around. It’s the periodic up and down of the economy–boom and bust. The word cycle is pretty disingenuous–no one has been able to identify any pattern in the ups and downs. There is no way to predict what the economy will do tomorrow, and there is also no way to predict the size of change from day to day. But it’s not random, either. Turns out the economy appears to be in “self-organized criticality”. It is stable, but continually on the edge of major change. It appears to be like a pile of sand with new sand grains dropping on to it. Will the next sand grain add gently to the pile or cause an avalanche of thousands or millions of grains? It’s impossible to tell.

Self-organized criticality is a fascinating concept that’s being seen all over nature and society. It explains why things can seem incredibly boring and then change overnight, only to become boring again.

Another cool point in Critical Mass is that these complex systems which are impossible to predict can be modeled in a computer. Researchers have been able to create computer models that result in these self-organized critical systems. These models aren’t the real world, but they look like the real world. More amazing is that these crazy, unpredictable, real-world-looking systems can be faked with just a few simple rules. Turns out it may be that the most complex social interactions and intractable problems really arise from just a few rules of human behavior. Those rules may be understandable, and that could help us better understand the interactions we see.

I found the book changed the way I view the world and think about social interactions and systems. Plus I really love well-written science books. Telling a technical story in a compelling way is hard to do and watching a master like Ball is a joy. For similar mastery of the genre also check out John McFee and my favorite science book ever, Bascom’s out of print Waves and Beaches.

For more, see In the Middle, and Power and Systems

• The System
• Power in the System
• Middle Integration
• So, why don’t Middles Integrate?
• Strategies and Tactics for Empowering Yourself in the Middle

The System

For Oshry, a viable system (organization) is able to cope with problems that come up, and continually prospect for new opportunities. He has come to identify three core conditions of the system:

Tops

• Are owners, executives
• Have overall responsibility for a system or piece of a system, is the creator or custodian of the systems rules and institutions, and has control over distribution of the systems resources.
• Exist in a complicating space. Difficult problems that can’t be solved in the system work their way up to be solved at the top.

Workers

• Are front-line producers
• Feel constrained by the system rules and institutions made by others and have no control over the distribution resources they desire.
• Exist in a threatening space. They have no control over the structures around them, and are often on the receiving end of decisions that affect their lives.

Middles

• Are managers
• Are caught up between the Tops and the Workers. They are pushed and pulled by the often opposing perspectives, priorities, and demands of those they serve or manage. They feel separated from their peers, and often feel isolated and harassed.
• Exist in a diffusing space. They are pulled away from their peers in the system and pulled toward those they service or manage.

Power in the System

Oshry defines system power as the ability to influence system survivability, enhancing the system’s ability to cope and prospect.

Tops, Middles, and Workers have potential power in the system, though this power potential is different for each condition:

Tops

• Are in the best position to manage the system’s overall form, to sense the system’s environment, what it is now and how it is changing.
• Their potential power is in shaping the system to help it better cope with problems and prospect for new opportunities.

Workers

• Are in the best position to understand how work is done via the work processes they are intimately familiar with.
• Their potential power is in influencing the processes by which work is done to enhance the capacity of the system as a whole.

Middles

• Are in the best position to understand how parts of the system relate.
• Their potential power lies in integrating the parts of the system so that the parts enhance rather than compete with each other

Middle Integration

Middles have two functions, one local the other systemic. Locally, they are expected to manage and service specific system units. This can be done individually. Systemically, their function is to integrate the system. This can only be done collectively.

Middles are in the best position to integrate the system—they have direct contact with all the parts of the system, as well as contact with Tops and Workers.

Integration of the middle comes in two phases: diffusing and integrating.

When middles are in the diffusing phase:

• They function independently of each other
• They service/manage their respective parts of the system
• They attempt to influence these parts
• They collect information about these parts

When middles are integrating:

• They meet with one another, excluding all others (even their bosses).
• They share and make use of the intelligence they have gathered in their diffusing phase
• They attempt to influence these parts
• They collect information about these parts

Diffusing and Integrating activities strengthen each other. Because Middles diffuse, they collectively get the whole picture at a very intimate level. This intelligence gathering can be used as a basis for integrating.

When Middles are successfully integrating:

• There is a greater sense of consistency throughout the system
• Parts are coordinated with each other
• Tops, Workers, and other Middles have the information, materials, and directions they need in their work.
• Parts are better able to adjust their performances to the needs of the system as a whole.

Middles who are successfully integrating:

• Feel coordinated and in sync with one another.
• They feel supported by one another
• The feel that the middle group is a significant entity within the system
• Each middle feels more secure and effective in carrying out his/her individual servicing or managing functions
• They feel powerful and independent

So, why don’t Middles Integrate?

Job Definition

Middles are hired and evaluated on specific job duties. They have been defined as managers/servicers of other system units, not as system integrators

Do Tops Want Integrated Middles?

Integrated Middle groups are more difficult to influence that individual Middles. Tops often would rather have a dis-integreated middle that they can easily influence. Also, power in the Middle can often threaten Tops and their perception of their own power in the system.

Do Middles Want Integrated Middle Groups?

Middles often identify more with the groups they are servicing/managing than with other middles. In a diffusing space, it’s common to see an integration effort as one more thing pulling at a middle.

Strategies and Tactics for Empowering Yourself in the Middle

Strategy 1: Don’t slide into the middle of their issues and conflicts and make them your own.

Empower the people with the problems to work them out. Be a mediator. Remember that Tops and Workers would love for you to take ownership of their problems.

Strategy 2: Don’t lose your mind

Don’t lose your individual view for the view of others. Take the input of the Tops and Workers and use it to formulate your own Middle perspective.

Tactic 1: Be a Top when you can, and take the responsibility of being a Top

Know when to act and ask forgiveness rather than getting permission.

Tactic 2: Be a Worker when you should

Don’t be a mindless funnel from the Tops to the Workers. Challenge Tops on what they are asking you to convey to Workers—work it out with them rather than simply passing it on to Workers.

When others bring their problems to Middles, the expect a solution. Let them know you understand their problem, that you empathize with them, and that you aren’t going to solve their problem for them. Help them work through their own problem—empower them.

Use your understanding of the parts of the system to find the right people to solve a problem and get them in a room together. Don’t be an intermediary, but help the right people get together and work it out.

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