JAN: And in keeping with my ecocyle approach we can move from the
forest with its trees to examine organizational and institutional
death..... growth and renewal. We can learn a lot from the
forest metaphor--at any time in the forest you have sub-sets of
trees--some in exploitation some in conservation--others in
creative destruction and then renewal. These processes...as well
as the transitions between them are widely observed tendencies of
natural systems. Due to the complex nature of the system there is
nothing inevitable about the timing of the changes. But most
ecosystems go through these steps in this order...Exploitation--
conservation--creative destruction--renewal. Exploitative or -
hunter species in a forest are the pioneers. They are the
opportunists who can take quick advantage of the open space that
has appeared. But gradually over time these generalists die.....
niche specialists appear. Their homogeneity in age, species type
and specialized adaption to their protected niche renders them
vulnerable....and we begin to have deadwood. We now know it's
best not to try to control forest fires too tightly. This is
creative destruction--the forest fire is a natural part of death
and renewal. Nonetheless.....this phase often sees much of the
capital that has been accumulated in large scale structures
during the period of growth quickly destroyed as the system
becomes disorganized.
At this point the ecosystem can enter a so called FAR FROM
EQUILIBRIUM CONDITION. The far from equilibrium condition has a
special meaning in the study of nonlinear systems.
