Conclusions

In this final chapter, we will draw together the various ideas which have been developed throughout the book. For those of you who have made it this far, a number of general principles will by now be obvious. There are many implications of complexity theory, involving the organizational arrangements which are necessary to make businesses, communities and institutions more sustainable. Much of the book has been devoted to the argument that the structure of many of our current organizations is a barrier to sustainability, for reasons such as inadequate autonomy at the operational level and the inadequate flow of information, which seems ubiquitous both within our organizations and between us and our natural environments. From the perspective of recursive analysis it is also clear that we need new institutions at some levels of organization (e.g. the eco-system and global levels), with a clear mandate to govern in the interests of the biosphere and the well-being of all humanity.