Self-organization

Self-organization is one of the fundamental characteristics and themes of a complex system.

It relates to ability of a complex system to spontaneously arrange its components and their interactions into a sustainable, global structure that tries to maximize overall fitness, without need for an external or internal controller (inspired from Kauffman, 1995).

This is the main reason that new methods of governing complex systems suggest that the agents (sub-components) should be supported - although I love to call it persuaded - instead of forced or obligated. It is also the fundamental of bottom-up, in addition to top-down, policy or decision making.
That’s due to the belief to self-organization that, for example at Lund University, supervisors set aside optimal flexibility to their students to navigate in their research; or the head of the faculty delegates the power to each department and division.
By analogy, democratic governance and policy making requires delegation, distribution, and decentralization of power.

Thanks to self-organization, complex systems and their complicated or complex agents (sub-components) are able to spontaneously generate new internal structures and forms of behavior. Due to self-organization, the whole system can move toward innovation, adaptation, and evolutionary sustainability. For a system to self-organize, it must be open, flexible, communicating, and dynamic.

Capability of complex systems, like supply chains, to self-organize makes me optimistic to the feasibility of their sustainable development. This calls for generating a self-organizing economy where a global pattern of corporate social responsibility be emerged.