Designing the Knowledge Organization of the Future: The Intelligent Complex Adaptive System

In response to an environment of rapid change, increasing complexity and great uncertainty, the organization of the future must become an adaptive organic business. The intelligent complex adaptive system (ICAS) serves as a model for this organization that will enter into a symbiotic relationship with its cooperative enterprise, virtual alliances and external environment, while simultaneously retaining unity of purpose and effective identification and selection of incoming threats and opportunities. Eight characteristics, emergent in nature, are needed to succeed in the forthcoming, highly competitive, complex world where perceiving, interpreting and responding effectively become complicated and challenging in and of themselves. The characteristics needed to meet this challenge are presented and discussed. They are: organizational intelligence, unity and shared purpose, optimum complexity, selectivity, knowledge centricity, flow, permeable boundaries and multi-dimensionality. How these are brought into reality is the challenge of every manager and leader of the future.