Dynamics of Team Member Replacements from Complex Systems Theory

Simulations based on the NK model are carried out to address team member replacements that follow tweaking (i.e., gradual changes) of the strategy of the team leader. For simple teams in which the team members do not interact, team member replacements occur independently. However, for teams in which team members interact with other team members, team member replacements occur as cascades. In these cascades, the replacement of one team member triggers the replacement of another, which triggers the replacement of yet another, and so on. These cascades of team member replacements are largest for teams with intermediate complexity, in which each member interacts with between $${\frac{1}{4}}$$ and $${\frac{1}{2}}$$ of the other team members. The cascades are roughly independent of team size, and so smaller teams are more volatile in that the cascades affect a larger fraction of the team.