Reflection In Self-Organised Systems

Organisations operating in a dynamic environment need to be able to detect and respond to changes both internal and external. One effective decision making approach is self-organisation, which is appropriate where there is a state of constant awareness of the working environment and flexibility so that decision-making groups are formed spontaneously to solve problems and incorporate changes. Decision-making from this perspective is done on three levels: individual, group or cluster, and organisational. With each level, it is imperative that the situation is fully understood, alternative solutions are considered and compared with an ideal, and consequences are taken into account. The authors argue that this model of thinking and decision making is that recommended by Dewey - reflection. The evidence used in this argument comes from two bodies of knowledge, the reflection and self-organised systems literature. The paper describes the process of reflection on the three levels of organisational decision making and concludes that one of the most effective ways for organisations to optimise operations in a dynamic environment is to be open to self-organisation and reflective thinking.