Chaos speak: a glossary of chaordic terms and phrases

Abstract

The following represents an attempt to define and clarify the evolving patois of chaos using the language managers and practitioners find most familiar. The convention of italicizing and making bold words and phrases defined elsewhere in the glossary has been employed to facilitate the reader's grasp of the terms.

Thinking about complexity in health: A systematic review of the key systems thinking and complexity ideas in health

“…Several terms, particularly dynamic/dynamical systems, emergence, CASs, and interdependent/interconnected were very common within ST/CS manuscripts, appearing in roughly half of all manuscripts reviewed. Perhaps the fact that these 4 ideas were frequently encountered is not surprising, as components of ST/CS definitions often include the idea that organization in systems arises from the continuously evolving (emergence), yet at times unpredictable interaction (dynamic/dynamical systems and interdependent/interconnected) amongst continually changing parts (CAS) . With the exception of these and a few other terms, most of the concepts reviewed appeared in relatively few manuscripts.…”

“…Perhaps the fact that these 4 ideas were frequently encountered is not surprising, as components of ST/CS definitions often include the idea that organization in systems arises from the continuously evolving (emergence), yet at times unpredictable interaction (dynamic/dynamical systems and interdependent/interconnected) amongst continually changing parts (CAS). 7,28,29 With the exception of these and a few other terms, most of the concepts reviewed appeared in relatively few manuscripts. The mix of these often distinct ideas under the common umbrella of ST/CS indicates that while certain concepts may be consistent across theories, others are themselves evolving as the theoretical basis is applied to new areas and practice contexts.…”

A Metatheoretical Evaluation of Chaordic Systems Thinking

“…ChST focuses in particular on the thinking and conceptualisation process. Fitzgerald and van Eijnatten say ChST is a framework for ‘thinking, seeing and interpreting organizational patterns’ that is ‘anchored in the metapraxis of Chaos’ (Fitzgerald and van Eijnatten, , p. 414). Consequently, notions of complexity, system dynamics, nonlinearity, cocreativity and attractor basin are part of the language and conceptual make‐up of this approach.…”

“…But several ideas from the social and psychological sciences have also been introduced into ChST's conceptual system. For example, in addition to physical science notions such as ‘indeterminancy’ (quantum physics) and ‘dissipation’ (thermodynamics), Fitzgerald and van Eijnatten include ‘consciousness’ (psychology) and ‘emergence’ (biology) (, p. 414). This makes for conceptual richness but also increases the risk of theoretical incoherency and this balance between conceptual diversity and clarity is one of the key issues facing ChST researchers.…”

“…While ‘consciousness’ and ‘mind’ are regarded as core properties in ChST (van Eijnatten and van Galen, ; Fitzgerald and van Eijnatten, ), there is still opportunity for investigating the relational facets of the interior–exterior lens and to explore the phenomenology of transition more systematically. One of the more common ways of conceptualizing transformation is to contrast its tangible and intangible aspects.…”