Abstract
We have used the automotive electronics revolution example to describe the principle of escalation of expectations, whereby complex innovation systems act can amplify some innovation butterflies (seemingly small decisions or events) over time into tsunamis that drastically change the overall system in which the innovation firm operates. We have also described, using the examples from the pharmaceutical industry and river engineering, a principle of exchange in which, owing to the nature of problem solving in a dynamically and structurally complex system, any “solution” eventually creates its own set of problems. However, there is another aspect of the complexity that innovation teams must account for: the potential for misalignment between team’s stated objectives and the choices made by individual team member or subteams. These misalignments are a final source for innovation butterflies as well as a potential drag on the efficiency of the innovation firm as a whole. We discuss these problems in this chapter in more detail using an example of a distributed project from a global software firm.
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Notes
- 1.
Quotation based on an interview conducted by the authors in 2006, while Scott worked in the purchasing/supply chain function at Sigma Tel, in Austin, TX.
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This case is based on work carried out at SofTex by one of the authors. The name of the firm and the details of the project have been altered to preserve anonymity. Allied of the technical details are available in:
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Anderson, E.G., Joglekar, N.R. (2012). Providential Behavior. In: The Innovation Butterfly. Understanding Complex Systems. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3131-2_4
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