Issue #9 [April 17-April 21, 2006]
Enterprise Genetics: A Complex Adaptive System
In the last edition of MDA Radar, we briefly touched on the enterprise as a matrix. As part of that discussion, we also introduced the modified IEEE 1471-2000 standard-based enterprise architecture, besides introducing the concept of enterprise mission and the PERA Master Plan concept. This week we will peer from the other side of the enterprise fence, investigating it from the perspective of a complex adaptive system. The main objective of this discussion is to understand the enterprise before embarking onto the details of its classification framework, enterprise reference architecture and enterprise architecture in the forthcoming editions of MDA Radar. Moreover, all this understanding will facilitate the building of a model driven enterprise classification framework to build the enterprise architecture with a strong foundation of enterprise concepts and models.
Introduction
In the last edition of MDA Radar, we briefly touched on the enterprise as a matrix. As part of that discussion, we also introduced the modified IEEE 1471-2000 standard-based enterprise architecture, besides introducing the concept of enterprise mission and the PERA Master Plan concept. This week we will peer from the other side of the enterprise fence, investigating it from the perspective of a complex adaptive system. The main objective of this discussion is to understand the enterprise before embarking onto the details of its classification framework, enterprise reference architecture and enterprise architecture in the forthcoming editions of MDA Radar. Moreover, all this understanding will facilitate the building of a model driven enterprise classification framework to build the enterprise architecture with a strong foundation of enterprise concepts and models.
Enterprise as a Complex Adaptive System
The term Complex Adaptive System (CAS) formally refers to a collaborative system of participant components coupled in a nonlinear fashion. Enterprise itself is one of the best examples of CAS. Like CAS, enterprise agents are the components or collaborative functional entities of enterprise systems. Complex adaptive systems, therefore enterprises, have many properties; and the most important are briefly listed below as explained by Peter Fryer in his What are complex adaptive systems (re-published here with his kind permission):
- Emergence: Rather than being planned or controlled the agents in the system interact in apparently random ways. From all these interactions patterns emerge which informs the behaviour of the agents within the system and the behaviour of the system itself.
- Co-evolution: All systems exist within their own environment and they are also part of that environment. Therefore, as their environment changes they need to change to ensure best fit. But because they are part of their environment, when they change, they change their environment, and as it has changed they need to change again, and so it goes on as a constant process. (Perhaps it should have been Darwin's "Theory of Co-evolution".)
- Sub optimal: A complex adaptive systems does not have to be perfect in order for it to thrive within its environment. It only has to be slightly better than its competitors and any energy used on being better than that is wasted energy. A complex adaptive systems once it has reached the state of being good enough will trade off increased efficiency every time in favour of greater effectiveness.
- Requisite Variety: The greater the variety within the system the stronger it is. In fact ambiguity and paradox abound in complex adaptive systems, which use contradictions to create new possibilities to co-evolve with their environment.
- Connectivity: The ways in which the agents in a system connect and relate to one another is critical to the survival of the system, because it is from these connections that the patterns are formed and the feedback disseminated. The relationships between the agents are generally more important than the agents themselves.
- Simple Rules: Complex adaptive systems are not complicated. The emerging patterns may have a rich variety, but like a kaleidoscope the rules governing the function of the system are quite simple. A classic example is that all the water systems in the world, all the streams, rivers, lakes, oceans, waterfalls etc with their infinite beauty, power and variety are governed by the simple principle that water finds its own level.
- Iteration: Small changes in the initial conditions of the system can have significant effects after they have passed through the emergence - feedback loop a few times (often referred to as the butterfly effect). A rolling snowball for example gains on each roll much more snow than it did on the previous roll and very soon a fist-sized snowball becomes a giant one.
- Self-Organising: There is no hierarchy of command and control in a complex adaptive system. There is no planning or managing, but there is a constant re-organising to find the best fit with the environment. A classic example is that if one were to take any western town and add up all the food in the shops and divide by the number of people in the town there will be near enough two weeks supply of food, but there is no food plan, food manager or any other formal controlling process. The system is continually self-organising through the process of emergence and feedback.
- Edge of Chaos: Complexity theory is not the same as chaos theory, which is derived from mathematics. But chaos does have a place in complexity theory in that systems exist on a spectrum ranging from equilibrium to chaos. A system in equilibrium does not have the internal dynamics to enable it to respond to its environment and will slowly (or quickly) die. A system in chaos ceases to function as a system. The most productive state to be in is at the edge of chaos where there is maximum variety and creativity, leading to new possibilities.
- Nested Systems: Most systems are nested within other systems and many systems are systems of smaller systems. If we take the example in self-organising and consider a food shop. The shop is itself a system with its staff, customers, suppliers, and neighbours. It also belongs the food system of that town and the larger food system of that country. It belongs to the retail system locally and nationally and the economy system locally and nationally, and probably many more. Therefore it is part of many different systems most of which are themselves part of other systems.
Therefore enterprise can be summed up as providing business, information, technology and management feedback to the CAS:
Enterprise can be imagined as a recombination crossover, a kind of holistic strategic alignment between business, technology, information and management that causes the enterprise mutation and evolution of enterprise as a complex adaptive system. DNA like Continuous transcription happens within the enterprise between Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat (SWOT) of one category with the other, which eventually causes the evolution of this modern agile enterprise.
The following diagram simplifies this enterprise genetics:
Therefore the enterprise, the enterprise reference architecture, and enterprise architecture framework should be able to support all of these 10 characteristics of the CAS. So we can conclude with the following few points:
- Enterprise and Enterprise Architecture are not a destination; they constitute the starting point of a journey
- Enterprise Reference Architecture should be able to provide a contingency of all these 10 CAS characteristics
In this context we take the opportunity to differentiate between Enterprise Classification System and Enterprise Architecture framework as follows:
- Enterprise Classification framework helps us identify the nature of the complex adaptive system populating different cells of the classification framework matrix
- Enterprise Architecture builds enterprise systems
- Enterprise Architecture Framework helps build the enterprise architecture of the identified enterprise system(s)
- Enterprise Reference Architecture Frameworks actually build the foundation of Enterprise Architecture Frameworks
Conclusion
In this edition, we have understood the complex nature of this agile enterprise and identified the complex nature of this enterprise as a Complex Adaptive System. We have also identified the subtle differences between different types of misinterpreted enterprise architecture terminologies.
References
- http://www.trojanmice.com/articles/complexadaptivesystems.htm
- Adaptive complex enterprises: Introduction by Anand Desai, May 2005, Communications of the ACM, Volume 48 Issue 5
- Developing and integrating enterprise components and services: Enterprise application integration and complex adaptive systems by Jeff Sutherland, Willem-Jan van den Heuvel
October 2002, Communications of the ACM, Volume 45 Issue 10
- Adaptive complex enterprises: Fractal architecture for the adaptive complex enterprise by Jay Ramanathan, May 2005, Communications of the ACM, Volume 48 Issue 5
