Communication And Control

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In a complex system the parts are inter-related through circular feedback loops, d multiplying effects which can cause it to behave unpredictably.  Complex behaviour emerges when interactions between the parts of a system are intensified.  [8] The growing impact of information technology, globalisation, and greater awareness of the inter-dependence between the built and natural environment are some of the factors which are driving increasingly complex situations for asset managers.  Traditional command-and-control methods of management assume that organisations act like simple machines, where cause and effect are linked in a direct, linear fashion.  Whilst these methods are suitable for the routine operation and maintenance of property assets, the diagram on the opposite page suggests that a different approach is needed to manage property in a strategic context.

Control of a complex system is built into the network itself - stability is achieved through a process of communication and control between the parts of the system, allowing the whole to be self-regulating.  Buckminster Fuller advised managers to design organisations where doing the right thing became the line of least resistance rather than instructing people exactly what to do.  When the correct type of organisational structure is in place, management then becomes a matter of removing constraints within the system by decoupling relevant sub-systems and promoting better communication and feedback of information. [16] Managers who operate internal rents for space will already know this: organisations that oscillate between central control and local autonomy probably do not.

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