This forum is for those interested in the way organisations are transitioning from the machine like structure and protocols of  the industrial age, to a more organic, agile and resilient form more appropriate for success in the global knowledge economy. 

We are entering a new complex, interconnected and interdependent world where the global challenges of pollution, climate change,  resource depletion,  international trade, civil rights and information overload can no longer simply be met with our heirarchical organisational models, political power structures and decision making processes .

We have seen the emergence of a whole movement of autonomous living organisations and communities who recognise their inter-dependence on each other and  are growing  collaboration networks (often using the using the tools of the information age) to share their issues, learning  achievement and thus drive a new globally aware form of positive local action.  (Watch video "Blessed Unrest" by Paul Hawkin) 

This emergent structure is a self organising network that expands, contracts and changes shape organically to reflect shared values, counter external threats and proactively capitalise on opportunities for win-win partnerships and real growth.  It challenges many of the boundaries of traditional management thinking, particulary around how we view leadership:  

Nature reminds us that  "all the world is a network" . If we assume that viewpoint, then perhaps we need to think of leadership as not so much a characteristic of the physical nodes that make up the network  (the organisations, communities, teams or even individuals) but rather as a way of expressing, dynamically inspiring and exploiting the opportunities and synergies found in the interconnections between the nodes at any level.  

I have been privileged to be part of a global volunteer team  inspired by the courage of young and old in a small rural school and remote Maori community in New Zealand, to help them capture and share their learnings as The Tipu Ake Lifecycle - An Organic Leadership Model for Innovative Organisations and Communities (see www.tipuake.org.nz ).  On this site under " Supporting Stories" we have linked in the thinking of many others around the globe (including indigenous peoples) who are thought and action leaders in this domain, so we hope that this post will help challenge some assumptions and generate some international dialogue.

For those who find the concept of sustainabilty has somewhat lost its impact, perhaps you may also like to look at www.kaitiakitanga.net  for a different worldview.   The community network here is piloting some Tipu Ake behaviours and tools.