Overview

Can we change social systems? How can we understand and apply complexity principles to social order? We come from experience, we have worked in trying to radically change social systems in the past 25 years. Our lab have been communities and governments. Our most significant success has been our crime-prvention model which has helped many communities radically reduce crime in a very short period of time. We were intrigued by the success. Our theoretical background was Systems Theory and Total Quality Management, but we knew we were way out on uncharted territory. So we stepped into Chaos Theory and Complexity Theory. Self regulating systems, how complex order emerges naturally in nature, the impossibility to control complex systems, the sensitivity to initial conditions, the infinite within the finite, and other principles of these theories fitted very nicely into our own findings, and yet, there was something missing. There was practically no mention of information as the most fundamental of variables to achieve complex order. There was another element that was also missing in the text-books: intention. These two principles: intention and information are fundamental when we are dealing with social change. Information is only sidelined by a Complexity Theory and intention is viewed as a heresy by mainstream science, even social science. But what can be more natural to society and humans than intention? In this brief book we explore the connections between our model for social change and Complexity Theory and most importantly, the new principles we propose. It is an invitation to explore how we can build and reinforce healthy communities if we fully understand the key variables for creating complex order.

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9781511818605

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Santiago Roel is a pioneer in government reform, crime prevention and complexity. He is both a pragmatist and a theorist. In the past 25 years, his lab has been governments and communities where he has created some interesting success stories. He likes to challenge assumptions and mainstream paradigms.

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