Abstract
We must leapfrog ahead to explore the type of cultural design that is needed in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, an era of rapid and continual transformation. The future of organizations, communities, teams, and leaders must evolve. Most are stuck in the current paradigm, unable to see the shift to a more self-organizing, adaptive world. Organizational cultures will become the catalyst for reinventing how organizations, societies, and members function. Taking cues from the natural world and adaptive DNA, new cultural characteristics emerge. Complexity Theory and complex adaptive systems are introduced to illustrate how and why this organic model can work. Innovation, self-organization, and adaptation emerge as means by which responsibility and problem solving are driven downward. This is an environment in which learning, innovation, connections, and adaptive capacity are present. This work builds on the existing body of scholarship on culture but expands on it to include a scan of the external environment created by the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The project is founded on an extensive literature review and critical reappraisal of established theory. A theoretical reconceptualization of proposed cultural properties follows. Relationships set the stage for a cultural environment in which people closest to the problem, or who are most passionate about it, can lead change. They inspire and ignite innovative ideas, increasing adaptive capacity. The journey ahead almost certainly requires navigation of turbulent waters but, armed with a reimagining of organizational culture, we can also envision exciting and ennobling possibilities for the future.
Presenters
Laurie YatesVisiting Professor, Management, Oregon Institute of Technology, Oregon, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
The Value of Culture and the Demand of Change
KEYWORDS
Culture, Adaptive DNA, Change, Fourth Industrial Revolution, Complex Adaptive Systems
