Guest editorial: Complexity as a model for social innovation and social entrepreneurship: is there order in the chaos?

French, Max; McGowan, Katharine; Rhodes, Mary Lee; Zivkovic, Sharon

doi:10.1108/sej-05-2022-140

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 58 publications

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“…One approach is to stage investment through small tests of change, experiments and pilot projects, and conditioning further investment on promising results. However any rationalistic approach to staging and scaling a 'best practice' will sit uneasily with a complex model of social innovation which is dynamic, recursive, and provisional involving bricolage and iteration (French et al 2021b). As a compatible alternative, HLS centres the practice of 'Learning as a Management Strategy' in the governance of innovation across multiple system scales.…”

Section: The Assurance Questionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Harnessing Complexity for Better Outcomes in Public and Non-Profit Services

French¹,

Hesselgreaves²,

Wilson³

et al. 2023

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Section: The Assurance Questionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Harnessing Complexity for Better Outcomes in Public and Non-Profit Services

French¹,

Hesselgreaves²,

Wilson³

et al. 2023

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Festschrift for Mike Jackson: Applying critical systems thinking through phronetic pluralism: Learning from human learning systems and the adaptive learning pathway

Hesselgreaves,

Hobbs,

French

et al. 2024

Syst Res Behav Sci

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Contemporary governance challenges require both systemic leadership and adaptive learning to navigate effectively. Yet systems theory and systems thinking remain on the relative margins of management praxis, subject to accusations of theoretical remoteness or impracticality. In this paper, we explore how concepts central to Critical Systems Theory (CST) can be impactfully carried into practice. We discuss the genesis and operation of Human Learning Systems (HLS), a recent complexity‐informed development in public service reform, and the Adaptive Learning Pathway (ALP) for systemic leadership, as two such exemplars. Through these two illustrative cases, we highlight the significance of pragmatism and pluralism in applying CST in practitioner‐orientated and policy contexts and consider the implications for knowledge production and academic relevance. We describe how a spirit of ‘phronetic pluralism’ may act as an appropriate translational device for integrating systems theory in practice and help realise practical improvements in the public policy and management landscape.

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