Living systems are always renewing and “self-making” themselves. For example, our body continuously replaces its cells, retaining its identity as it grows and distributes its “seed” to evolve and adapt to its environment.

A seed or embryo is self-creating. What it will become is determined by its form and genetic structure. It does not “know” what opportunities and constraints it will face as it grows and “bonds” with other living systems and its environment to survive.

 Cognitive scientist Humberto Maturana call this relationship “structural coupling”. This happens in concert with the nervous system that is “structurally determined”.

The environment is also an autopoietic system, able to recreate and regenerate itself from its sensory experiences to survive and thrive in an ecology of living systems 

The diagram above is a metaphor to describe the two tendencies in a living system. One is to “pull back” to survive (like a hedgehog) to preserve itself by mitigating the danger to make life less severe, profound, or painful. Our body adapts to serve its needs. It rejects any idea or chemical that it recognises as  “not me”. Its our nervous system and genetic makeup that dermises our Way of Being in the world.

The other tendency is to “push out” (like an octopus) to explore, change, learn, invent and adapt, continuously adjusting to new conditions.

Our view of the world is controlled by our internal model that determines how we will relate to our environment to survive and thrive.

Application in Organisations

Social systems are autopoietic. They constantly change and recreate their boundaries to meet different purposes and environmental conditions. For example, professional groups follow “social practices” and rules, use shared understandings and their own jargon to defend their identity. They are constrained by the “self-refeential social system they rely on.

When we engaged in conversation in groups, we “scan” listening for anything that might affect “me” or interest “me”. Like gossip about the boss, someone’s new car or a challenge to “your” values. It’s an automatic and unconscious “radar beam” that is operated by our nervous system. 

The brain notices and hears any incoming signals which resonate, like our own name. You listen to decide if it’s something you need to care about and might need to take action on.

References

Navigating Complexity by Arthur Battram

The Tree of Life by Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela

Order for Free by Stuart Kaufmann

Steps Towards an Ecology of Mind by Gregory Bateson