An organization that reflects the image
of a Complex Adaptive System is actually the one I currently work for, our
athletic department at Embry Riddle. Our department is its own entity under the
university umbrella because we have our own cultural norms, processes, and
people working towards our mission as an athletic department. In the last
couple of years our department has been undergoing drastic change as we make
the transition from the NAIA to the NCAA. This process is long and rigorous and
has tested our organization deeply. There are different rules and requirements
that our new governing body has brought upon us and an organization unable to
adapt would have failed. According to Obolensky (2010) in a CAS “people are
very flexible and systems are open so information is shared and total
transparency is gained”. In our organization we illustrate just that. Our
hierarchy is rather flat and all of our coaches while having their own freedom,
abide by our cultural norms and communicate freely with one another. The past
year we have spent learning and communicating about the new procedures required
with the NCAA, and we want to make sure that EVERYONE is well informed and
prepared for these changes. “There are some clear and strictly followed processes,
specially around recruitment”. This statement again describes perfectly our
values and procedures that our organization follows. We recruit coaches who
have high character and truly have a passion for developing young men and
women, winning games is just a plus. Even further than the recruiting of our
organizational members, we have a philosophy that our coaches believe in and
that is that we recruit the “TOTAL PACKAGE…. The student, person, player… “This
means that our coaches recruit student athletes that are great students first,
great people with great character second, and lastly great players. This has
allowed for us to find our niche in recruiting the best student athletes at the
small college level. It has allowed us to enjoy that reputation and maintained
our culture because of the people we bring into our family. Our organization
has already been adaptive to change for over 20 years. We began as an athletic
department with no athletic scholarships to one of the most decorated small
college athletic programs in the NAIA. We have never been stagnant and are
always growing and looking ahead. Our infrastructure and culture has allowed us
to be dynamic and flexible at the hands of change, and in fact we embrace it.
Moving forward I don’t think much has to change for our organization. We must
continue to hold the norms that have gotten us this far and continue looking
ahead to growth and change. We will continue to strategize fluidly about the
future state of our organization and remained prepare for any change the
environment may require.
Obolensky, Nick. Complex
Adaptive Leadership: Embracing Paradox and Uncertainty. Farnham, England:
Gower, 2010. Print.
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