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(Gardening) Gardening: A Relational Framework for Complex Thinking About Complex Systems

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Narrating Complexity

Abstract

For positive outcomes to be achieved in the management of change in complex systems, our modes of thinking need to be congruent with the complexity of the targeted systems. In this chapter, we draw inspiration from the concept of gardening, conceived as a systemic activity of managing relations or the process by which a gardener relates to the relations of a complex system, to develop a relational thinking framework for complex thinking applied to change in complex systems. This framework is based on a relational worldview of interventions, as systemic activities aimed at change in complex systems. We propose a heuristic, in the form of a recursive relational thinking method, which can be used to explore different configurations of relations that represent abstract entities within a modelworld. Further we suggest that these configurations of relations can be the base for a corresponding storyworld, to assist in the narration of change in complex systems. We present this general abstract framework and apply it (recursively) to gardening itself as an example of a domain of change. This exercise illustrates how the proposed relational framework can be used to generate different models of change and supporting narratives, as well as the fitness of different modes of intervention in relation to desired outcomes. The result is, in itself, a basic relational framework or meta-model to guide the planning, evaluation and communication of interventions in complex systems.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The Law of Requisite Variety has different forms: “The larger the variety of actions available to a control system, the larger the variety of perturbations it is able to compensate.” or “Variety destroys variety”, or as Stafford Beer (1979) rephrased it: “Variety absorbs variety”.

  2. 2.

    For example, the different languages accounting for micro-, meso- or macroscopic phenomena in physics, or the individual, group, or population level descriptions in the social sciences. Although these examples relate to emergence of new levels of description related to (a hierarchy of) spatial scale, we consider the more general case of the emergence of novel concepts at new levels of relating relations.

  3. 3.

    We use the term modelworld for the results of the meta-modelling framework that can create a range of models.

  4. 4.

    Note that the relata we start with can be both objects and relations, reflecting our relational stance.

  5. 5.

    The name “Intervenor” may conjure up notions of an external agent of change, but as we take a meta-position, we explicitly include it within our (meta-)model as part of the worldview (a meta-system). Depending on the distinction being made by an observer, the intervenor can come from outside or inside the system. It is the particular type of relation (e.g., intention) in respect of the possibility of change that provides the distinction for this role.

  6. 6.

    “Having the property of system-characteristics” (Checkland 2000).

  7. 7.

    That is, if you don’t deal with your weed and it goes to seed and multiplies, you are going to have a lot of additional work in future to eradicate the problem ...

  8. 8.

    We acknowledge a distinction between the gardener’s intended garden (Target Garden) and that actually achieved through the gardening process (Future Garden). This deserves more attention, outside of the scope of this chapter.

  9. 9.

    There are many definitions and measures of complexity that are reviewed elsewhere (Manson 2001; Ladyman et al. 2013). The reader should carefully consider the definitions and measures that are most suitable for a given situation.

  10. 10.

    Although dependent on the measure of complexity considered, we offer illustrative examples without reference to the particular technical measures that could be adopted.

  11. 11.

    A highly complex system may be poised for transformation. Therefore, maintaining high complexity without change of type requires a more intensive and complex form of maintenance that we distinguish from regular routine maintenance.

  12. 12.

    http://www.slowgardening.net/

  13. 13.

    In building up the relational configuration (Fig. 13.3), we decided not to integrate all dimensions of the nature of coupling, choosing instead to focus on the perspective of the gardener. Nevertheless, when reaching higher relational levels, we returned to relate to the dimension of coupling. The relevance of this dimension then became clear, as a moderator of other relations: the specific nature of the coupling corresponds to variations in those relations, lowering or increasing the levels of fit.

  14. 14.

    cf. Sect. 4.4.1

  15. 15.

    The independence or interference of the system operation with respect to environmental coupling can be related to the concepts of “orthogonality” and “crosstalk” concerning signal transmission in electrical engineering (and synthetic biology).

  16. 16.

    We note that within the garden a similar ecological strategy is employed in Companion Planting: proximal planting of different plants for synergistic effects that promote plant growth/health via control of pests, pollination, etc. See, for example, Little (2008).

  17. 17.

    For example, Gardeners’ Question Time is a long-standing program on BBC Radio 4, where a panel of experts provides advice on the audience’s gardening problems.

  18. 18.

    “the shared universe within which the settings, characters, objects, events, and actions of one or more narratives exist” (von Stackelberg 2011).

  19. 19.

    We do not prescribe methodologies: although we have referred to qualitative methods, the modelworld could be used as the basis to build other kinds of models, e.g., computational models.

  20. 20.

    Burke (1941) positioned metaphor as one of the “Four Great Tropes” alongside metonymy, synecdoche and irony. He noted “Give a man but one of them, tell him to exploit its possibilities, and if he is thorough in doing so, he will come upon the other three.” We trust the reader will excuse this eventuality.

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Acknowledgements

We thank all the reviewers for their comments, particularly Susan Stepney for her insight and enthusiasm that encouraged us to further develop our ideas. We also thank Giulia Rispoli for the clarity of her critique and useful suggestions.

Ana Teixeira de Melo is supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal. This work was supported by an individual postdoctoral fellowship awarded by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal (SFRH/BPD/77781/2011), and hosted by the Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra and the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences of the University of Coimbra.

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  1. Independent Researcher, Sao Felix da Marinha, Portugal

    Leo Caves

  2. York Cross-Disciplinary Centre for Systems Analysis, University of York, York, UK

    Leo Caves

  3. Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Ana Teixeira de Melo

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  1. Leo Caves
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  1. Department of English and Related Literature, University of York, York, UK

    Richard Walsh

  2. Department of Computer Science, University of York, York, UK

    Susan Stepney

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Caves, L., de Melo, A.T. (2018). (Gardening) Gardening: A Relational Framework for Complex Thinking About Complex Systems. In: Walsh, R., Stepney, S. (eds) Narrating Complexity. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64714-2_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64714-2_13

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