Educating Prospective Managers in the Complexity of Organizational Life

Abstract

This article questions whether we can educate managers according to linear principles based on Newtonian laws and expect them subsequently to operate successfully in a world of increasing change and complexity where non-linear processes dominate. We explore this with the perspective of complexity science and through our experience of and reflections on recent examples which have arisen in our teaching practice. We argue that the increasing focus on outcomes in learning/teaching practice, both as a measure of learning and of quality in teaching, closes valuable areas of the learning/teaching experience to all participants in the process. Managers facing lives of ambiguity and anxiety for themselves and their organizations are let down by the very institutions whose role it is to support and prepare them.