Management Consulting

1

COMPLEXITY THINKING TRAINING AT

BAKER HUGHES

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABOUT US .......................................................................................... 4

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................... 3

2. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 4

3. RESEARCH METHODS ...................................................................... 5

4. LITERATURE REVIEW........................................................................ 6 4.1 Complexity theory ................................................................................................ 6

4.2 Adult Learning ...................................................................................................... 6

5. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ............................................................ 7 5.1 Health and Safety ................................................................................................. 7

5.2 Emergence ............................................................................................................ 7

5.3 Cynefin Framework .............................................................................................. 8

5.4 Self-Organisation ................................................................................................. 9

5.5 Emergence and Self-organisation ................................................................... 10

6. TRAINING ACTIVITIES ..................................................................... 11 6.1 Overview ............................................................................................................. 11

6.2 Process Enneagram .......................................................................................... 11

6.3 Human Knot ........................................................................................................ 12

6.4 60 Paces .............................................................................................................. 13

7. CONCLUSION ................................................................................... 13

8. LIST OF REFERENCES .................................................................... 14

9. APPENDICES .................................................................................... 17 APPENDIX 1: Process Enneagram Questions ..................................................... 17

APPENDIX 2: Human Knot Guide .......................................................................... 18

2

LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE 1. The Consulting Road Map…………………………………7

FIGURE 2. Cynefin Framework……………………………………….. 11

FIGURE 3. Self-Organisation & Emergence………………………….12

FIGURE 4. Process Enneagram……………………………………….13

3

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Today we frequently view the world as exceedingly complex and numerous businesses and

corporations are regarded as highly complex systems. Companies are facing new and

unprecedented challenges when considering how to react to its own overwhelming

complexity. This report attempts to raise awareness of the growing literature surrounding

complexity thinking and further elaborate upon the various approaches that exist to promote

a mindset shift among leaders. This mindset shift will be facilitated through updating the

training behind the HSE Leadership Foundation Learning series (Baker Hughes, 2020). As

a team we hope to provide a set of conceptual tools to aid the training and education process

and develop a ‘complexity thinking’ mindset among Baker Hughes (BH) leaders.

This report is intended to be utilised alongside a presentation which will be conducted by the

team. The overall aim of the report is to provide BH with an insight into the thought processes

and complexity literature which has underpinned our knowledge that provided a basis for

our recommendations. As a team we hope the report acts as an effective guide and more

information to aid the presentation.

4

2. INTRODUCTION

Baker Hughes can be considered to be a highly complex corporation. This complexity

manifests, in Baker Hughes as it does in other businesses, in multiple locations (Bar-Yam,

2004). As expected, businesses comprise of dynamic social networks and are organized in

a way that collective goals are set together. (Saadi et al, 2020). Importantly, BH adopts a

system whereby the leaders are a critical cornerstone in promoting the health and safety

standards. This is conducted through the HSE Leadership Foundation series facilitated by

165 trained HSE professionals (Baker Hughes, 2020). Thus, ensuring the mindset and

approach behind the training is up to the highest of standard is particularly important.

To fulfil this task and for the purpose of this report we have considered the following concepts

and ideas to be important. Firstly, from our research it is apparent that the complexity

thinking and systems thinking can be utilized to aid BH’s HSE Leadership Foundation series.

Notably, the report focuses on two key concepts known as Emergence and Self-

Organization. As a team we considered both philosophies to be incredibly useful in changing

the way one views an organization. Thus, we attempted to teach/combine both concepts as

we believe this will be incredibly helpful for the HSE Leadership program.

In researching these concepts, we also found some effective tools to help put these ideas

into practice. We considered frameworks such as the Cynefin and Enneagram tools to be

effective if utilized in conjunction with the theoretical knowledge. Thus, this report attempts

to link the ideas surrounding Emergence and Self-organization through the two tools

mentioned above. Further expanding on this by utilizing a blended learning program by

providing activities to accompany the theoretical knowledge in an interesting and engaging

manner.

5

3. RESEARCH METHODS

As observed from the consultancy roadmap there have been a number of key processes

and decisions that have construed our recommendations.

Figure 1: The Consulting Road Map

Firstly, in the discovery phase, conducting a meeting/Q&A session to discover the main

objectives and ideas and analysing the problem in relation to the context and the industry

was important to our research. As a team we used then a deductive research approach

drawn from the literature surrounding complexity thinking and adult learning. This inevitably

impacted our design choice and highlighted the aspects the team wanted to focus on. We

recognised that the nature of the data collected would be qualitative and outcomes alike. It

was also apparent that from the literature we wanted to utilise a blended learning technique.

By explaining the theory and ideas behind complexity but utilises models and activities to

create an activity-based learning. As adults learn best through storytelling and activities, we

believed this approach was best.

.

6

4. LITERATURE REVIEW

4.1 Complexity theory

Complex systems involve a large number of interacting elements and are considered

exceedingly dynamic (Snowden and Boone, 2007). This means they are inevitably

unpredictable, and the environment is exceedingly uncertain. Complexity attempts to create

a mindset that moves away from linearity in a deterministic way by looking at the system as

a whole. As described by key academics Merali and Allen (2011) having a systems or

complexity focus is an important aspect to understanding and thinking about complexity. A

variety of different philosophies underpin the notion of ‘complexity’ For example, scholars

such as Bar-Yam (2004) promote the importance of Emergence within an organizational

setting. Whereas, Saadi et al. (2020) promote the notion of selforganization and teamwork.

Moreover, it is important to considering uncertainty within a complex system. This notion is

accompanied by models such as Cynefin model, which will be discussed at greater depth

later in the report.

4.2 Adult Learning

Individuals and organizations are constantly changing and adapting due to the changing

nature of adult learning (Senge, 1990). Adult learning differs significantly from children as

adults tend to learn and base their learning around knowledge and life experience (iSpring,

2019). To a large extent, adult learning has been closely linked with the workplace and how

to effectively utilize existing knowledge and translate this into effective training programs

(Merriam et al, 2007). According to Rothwell and Cookson (1997), the most important aspect

to educational program planning needs to assess the external and internal circumstances,

learning needs and the interests of stakeholders. However, Merriam and Bierema (2013),

promote the growing importance of blended learning to engrain key concepts and

frameworks. Similarly, Moon (2004, p.3) indicates the importance of experience stating, ‘All

learning is learning from experience’. Thus, we consider it to be important to promote a

training program that promotes a blended learning of both theory and practical application

of the theory.

7

5. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

5.1 Health and Safety

Health and Safety is imperative to any organization. As commonly understood, safety

management must deliver key concepts to front-line employees to promote and ensure the

resilience of a Health and Safety system (European Commission, 2014). In order to promote

and create this environment one should adapt how we view an organization or system.

As more formally defined, a system can be considered to be a ‘set of elements or parts that

is coherently organized and interconnected in a pattern or structure that produces a

characteristic set of behaviors’ or a function (Meadows, 2008, p.188) Thus, for Health and

Safety it must be considered in the context of the overall system not isolated individual parts

and aspects with differing events and outcomes. Even more so, the more complex a system

becomes the less effective a focus on the components becomes.

Currently, BH has developed, designed and implemented the HSE Leadership Foundation

Series. This series is the cornerstone for raising awareness, creating alignment and gaining

commitment to the HSE principles among the people and the leaders. Complexity thinking

and the ideas associated with complexity can provide BH with a number of theoretical and

conceptual tools to help shift the mindset of their leaders. (Baker Hughes, 2020)

5.2 Emergence

In the traditional approach to safety management the common understanding and

theoretical foundation follows a linear model where cause and effect is visible (European

Commission, 2014). The system is deconstructed to analyze where the problem originated

and trace the events from there. This system can be considered effective if used for simple

or complicated businesses. However, companies continue to use this method for more

complex systems or corporations, assuming this is the correct way to approach issues

surrounding Health and Safety. However, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the

theoretical ideas surrounding Emergence are much more relevant to complex systems.

Emergence discusses the relationship between the details of a system and the larger view

(Bar-Yam, 2004). Thus, emphasises the presence of a novel coherent macro-level emergent

as a result of the interactions between micro-level parts (De Wolf and Holvoet, 2004).

8

When thinking about Emergence, one should consider the different perspectives, both the

details of the system and the larger picture and how these relate to each other. As observed

in the presentation, the team provided an analogy of Emergence similar to that of a forest.

Particularly when training individuals we believe this was a amiable way to describe the

ideas behind emergence without it being too theory intense.

Emergence is especially evident in Health and Safety where there are often unexpected

adaptations and unintended consequences. As a result, the team found the Cynefin model

useful in expanding upon this theory.

5.3 Cynefin Framework

Cynefin framework is useful in exploring and making distinctions between events that are

predictable and unpredictable. As indicated in the picture below, the Cynefin framework has

four domains. Each domain reflects the different ways of understanding the relationship

between cause and effect and differing ways of working in each domain. Each requires a

different form of management and leadership style and adoption of different tools, practices

and conceptual understanding (Hasan and Kazlauskas, 2014)

Using the Cynefin map individuals’ fit their style and problem-solving approach to the

conditions at hand instead of relying on habits which can help really well in one area but not

so much in another. Although, there is much more depth to the Cynefin framework, for the

purpose of the presentation and report we are utilizing it to help describe complexity and

indicate the usefulness of looking beyond using similar management and decision practices.

(Hasan and Kazlauskas, 2014)

9

Figure 2: Cynefin Framework

5.4 Self-Organisation

Self-Organisation can be defined as the spontaneous emergence of global structure out of

local interactions. Furthermore, “spontaneous” means that no internal or external agent

(manager) is in control of the process. This implies that even when an agent is replaced or

eliminated, the resulting structure is not damaged (Heylighen, 2008, p. 6). This is a collective

process as it is distributed over all the agents, thus making the resulting organisation

resistant to damage and intrinsically robust (Heylighen, 2008, p. 6)

Leaders play a crucial part in this process. They are pivotal in breaking down, hierarchic,

restrictive and bureaucratic operations in organisations. (Morrison, 2011, p. 150)

A range of abilities or qualities are required from leaders in order to meet these demands.

For instance, some of the requirements are the ability to promote interaction, communication,

feedback, networking and connectivity and to be open to dialogue. Moreover, it is important

that leaders receive and act on information from multiple sources which are internal and

external to the organisation and facilitate and institute distributed leadership at different

levels of the organisation. As a result, this includes seeing expertise in many quarters which

are not resident only in bosses or leaders and to see the organisation as a whole (Morrison,

2011, pp. 150-151).

10

Consequently, in order to facilitate this interactive communication, the Process Enneagram

tool will be used to show how people in the organisation can make meaningful, effective

changes in how they operate and lead them to the future they really want.

5.5 Emergence and Self-organisation

As discussed by De Wolf and Holvoet (2004) both Emergence and Self-organization can

exist in isolation but can be of great value to combine both approaches for multi-agent

systems. As a team we considered it would be useful to provide both ideas for the HSE

training program.

The figure below indicates the relationship between the different philosophies and the effect

of them utilized together. Figure 3(a) illustrated a system that adopts selforganization but

not the micro-macro effect of adopting Emergence. Figure 3(b) illustrated the opposite

approach. Whereas 3(c) considers a system where self-organization and emergence are

combined. Although, there are many ways self-organization and emergence can co-exist

and react together this report will consider the system combined as similar to that of figure

3(c). In a self-organizing system, the emergence should be adaptive in order to have a

system that self-organizes in the presence of a changing situation. Importantly, this means

that if something unexpected happens, such as in the complex or chaotic sections of the

Cynefin diagram, if both philosophies are utilized individuals through self-organization be

inevitably emergent. (De Wolf and Holvoet, 2004)

In a large organization the complexity is so immense that it inevitably needs to selforganize

and it has such a significant number of micro-level entities they need to consider emergence.

Thus, a combination of emergence and self-organization is a promising approach to large

scale complex systems such as the one at BH.

11

Figure 3: (a) Self-Organisation without emergence; (b) Emergence without

Self-Organisation; (c) Combining Emergence and Self-Organisation

6. TRAINING ACTIVITIES

6.1 Overview

We have constructed three training materials (activity and dialogue) recommended from the

ideas of Emergence and self-organisation.

6.2 Process Enneagram

Process Enneagram is an important tool in bringing people together in a dialogue about the

important issues that they are facing, such as improving safety performance (Knowles,

2014). It is applicable in settings where there is a disconnect between the hidden informal

network of relationships and the formal organisational system. (Dalmau and Tideman, 2012,

p. 4) The use of this process is argued to be the missing link between practical application

and complexity theory. (Knowles, 2013). The Enneagram allows a team to address problems

and issues from a whole-of-systems viewpoint in 9 different dimensions as illustrated in

Figure 4. (Dalmau and Tideman, 2012, p. 11)

Figure 4: Process Enneagram (Dalmau and Tideman, 2012, p.13)

12

The training activity in this case is a dialogue. The facilitator must ensure that everyone is

sitting a circle without tables. It is applicable to settings where there is a disconnect between

hidden informal network of relationships and the formal organisational system, where there

is a disagreement about what is the best solution regarding the problem at hand (Dalmau

and Tideman, 2012, p. 4) It can last from 2 hours up to several days depending on the

complexity of the topic of discussion.

The first step is to ask questions about how each person sees the current state of affairs

under three headings: myself, this group and the issues at hand (Dalmau and Tideman,

2012, p. 22). While everyone comments, the facilitator should keep notes and place each

comment on the flip chart paper according to which of the 9 dimensions the comment

belongs to. (Dalmau and Tideman, 2012, p. 22)

Furthermore, the reason for basing the conversation on the 9 dimensions is that they tend

to bring clarity to the ones involved, enhances relationships and stimulates commitment

(Dalmau and Tideman, 2012, p. 12). Moreover, appendix 1 shows questions which can be

used to prompt a discussion under the 9 dimensions. Note that they are a guide but the

facilitator can adapt them depending on his/her situation.

A complete guide on the Process Enneagram Dialogue implementation can be found in the

link below:

http://www.dalmau.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/

CI2012_Wicked_Problems_Resource_Guide.pdf

The rationale for suggesting this tool to initiate a mindset change in leaders regarding

complexity thinking, is due to the fact that it has resulted successful at DuPont, an U.S

chemical company (Knowles, 2014). Injury rates were cut by 96%, while productivity

increased around 45%. It enabled DuPont to sustain a safety performance TRIR of 0.3 %

and below for 17 years straight. (Knowles, 2014) The interesting fact is that the manager

who implemented Process Enneagram at DuPont was transferred to another job during 12

years of this successful period. This shows that the process is sustainable even when the

person who introduces it has moved on. (Knowles, 2014)

6.3 Human Knot

Secondly, the Human Knot is a disentanglement puzzle that helps a group to self-organise

and work together, which helps to illustrate the difference between command and control

management and self-organisation. It is used as a management-awareness game to depict

required change in leadership and behaviour on a management level (Philip, 2011).

13

Further information is provided in the appendix 2.

6.4 60 Paces

60 Paces is a game which shows how much more efficient self-organisation is compared to

a command and control environment, where an external agent gives issues directions and

commands. The objective of the game is to walk around the room by taking as many steps

as possible within two minutes. (Kasperowski, 2012)

In the first iteration, pairs should be formed and one person in each pair volunteers to be the

manager and the other one (the pair) must obey to what the manager says. There are four

commands which can be issued from the manager: Turn Right, Turn Left, Stop and Go

Straight. Lastly, the pairs have two minutes to take as many steps as they can.

(Kasperowski, 2012)

!

7. CONCLUSION

This report has discussed that leadership which is informed by complexity thinking theory

deals a significant place to promoting the conditions for change and flexibility. It has exhibited

that, in accomplishing this, communication is foremost, complexity-theory-based leaders

must foster communication in many forms, being one of the conditions for emergence

through self-organization. Therefore, by adopting recommendations presented in this report,

leaders will find an engaging way to learn about complexity and enhance the company’s

safety performance. Process Enneagram in particular has proven to be successful in

improving safety performance when it has been applied in a real-world context, which is a

crucial insight to give further attention to this powerful tool.

14

8. LIST OF REFERENCES

Baker Hughes, (2020) Health, Safety and Environment. Available at: https://

www.bhge.com/hse (Accessed 12 May 2020)

Bar-Yam, Y. (2004) Making Things Work. New York: Barnes & Noble

Dalmau, T. and Tideman, J. (2012) Solving Wicked Problems in the Workplace. Available

a t : h t t p : / / w w w . d a l m a u . c o m / w p - c o n t e n t / u p l o a d s / 2 0 1 2 / 1 2 /

CI2012_Wicked_Problems_Resource_Guide.pdf (Accessed 17 May 2020)

De Wolf, T. and Holvoet, T. (2004) ‘Emergence Versus Self-Organisation: Different Concepts

but Promising When Combined’, Autonomous Agents and Multi-agent Systems conference.

New York, July 2004, pp 1-14

European Commission (2014) Systems Thinking for Safety: Ten Principles A White Paper.

Available at:https://www.skybrary.aero/bookshelf/books/2882.pdf (Accessed 13 May 2020)

Hasan, H. and Kazlauskas, A. (2014). The Cynefin framework: putting complexity into

perspective. Wollongong University: THEORI. Available at: https://

pdfs.semanticscholar.org/595f/2cc6764bea44eb48d8b81fed7e1e3bc75202.pdf?

_ga=2.26315125.930065595.1590098740-1538394531.1590098740 (Accessed 15 May

2020)

Heylighen, F. (2008) ‘Complexity and Self-organization’. Available at:https://

www.researchgate.net/publication/228893485_Complexity_and_Self-organization

(Accessed 17 May 2020)

Kasperowski (2012) Self-management and self-organization: Agile games with motion.

Available at: https://kasperowski.com/self-management-and-self-organization-agilegames-

with-motion/ (Accessed 17 May 2020)

Knowles, R. N. (2014) A Complex Systems Approach to Achieving Sustainable Safety

Excellence. Available at:https://www.ehstoday.com/safety/article/21916536/a-

15

complexsystems-approach-to-achieving-sustainable-safety-excellence (Accessed 17 May

2020)

Knowles, R. (2013) The Process Enneagram© Processes from The Leadership Dance

Part 1. Available at:http://centerforselforganizingleadership.com/pdf/The-Process-

Enneagram-Processes-from-The-Leadership-Dance.pdf (Accessed 19 May 2020)

Meadows, D. H. (2008) Thinking in Systems: A Primer. Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing

Merali, Y. and Allen, P. M. (2011) Complexity and systems thinking. Available at:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292653679_Complexity_and_systems_thinking (Accessed 14 May 2020)

Merriam, S.B., Caffarella, R.S., Baumgartner, L.M. (2007). Learning in adulthood: A

comprehensive guide. (3rd). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Merriam, S. B. and Bierema, L. L. (2013) Adult Learning: Linking Theory and Practice. San

Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Moon, J. A. (2004) A Handbook of Reflective and Experiential Learning: Theory and

Practice. Abingdon: Routledge

Morrison, Keith. (2011). ‘Leadership for self-organisation: complexity theory and

communicative action’, International Journal of Complexity in Leadership and Management,

1(2), pp. 145-163.Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/

2 6 4 4 4 0 9 3 0 _ L e a d e r s h i p _ f o r _ s e l f -

organisation_complexity_theory_and_communicative_action (Accessed 17 May 2020)

Philipp, M. (2011) Human Knot. Available at: https://www.tastycupcakes.org/2011/11/

human-knot/ (Accessed 17 May 2020)

Rothwell, W.J., & Cookson, P.S. (1997). Beyond instruction: Comprehensive program

planning for business and education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

16

Saadi, D. E., Sutcliffe, M., Bar-Yam, Y. and Morales, A. J. (2020) Functional and Social Team

Dynamics in Industrial Settings. Available at:https://www.hindawi.com/journals/

complexity/2020/8301575/ (Accessed 15 May 2020)

Senge P. (1990) The fifth discipline: the art and practice of the learning organization. New

York: Doubleday/Currency

Snowden, D. J. and Boone M. E. (2007) A Leader’s Framework for Decision Making.

Available at:https://hbr.org/2007/11/a-leaders-framework-for-decision-making (Accessed 13

May 2020)

17

9. APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1: Process Enneagram Questions

(Dalmau and Tideman, 2012, pp. 23-24)

18

APPENDIX 2: Human Knot Guide

(Philip, 2011)

22