Uncertainty and Surprise: Questions on Working with the Unexpected

April 10-12, 2003 The University of Texas Austin, Texas

Purpose and Introduction: Much of the scientific and applied scientific work in the social sciences is built on the supposition that the unknowability of situations is the result of a lack of information. This has led to an emphasis on uncertainty reduction through ever increasing information processing or, pending better information, on uncertainty management and hierarchies of controls. Complex systems research and the study of chaotic dynamics have demonstrated that unpredictability and surprise are fundamental aspects of the world around us. These fields have also injected a narrative, multi-faceted view into our description of the physical world and the recognition that vast interdependence is a pervasive characteristic that was lacking in the classical a temporal description. Instead of the conception of organizations as machines whose Newtonian-like dynamics need to be uncovered and then controlled we now have the viewpoint of organizations as self-organizing systems whose properties emerge from the nonlinear interactions of agents.

Topics

• The impacts of these new perspectives on the research agenda of the natural and social sciences
• The relevance of these perspectives for practitioners/executives in public policy and management
• The new research and practice questions at the individual, organizational and community levels that need to be explored for increasing our understanding of fundamental uncertainties and for increasing our ability to cope with these uncertainties

For detailed information and registration form: Uncertainty and Surprise
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Invited Speakers and Panelists:

Allen, Peter Lundquist Professor of Professional Management; Head of Complex Systems Management Center, Cranfield University School of Management

Begun, James Professor of Management, Chair, Department of Healthcare Management; Director, MHA Program, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota

Crabtree, Ben Professor and Research Director; Department of Family Medicine, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

Driebe, Dean Research Scientist; Ilya Prigogine Center for Statistical Mechanics and Complex Systems, University of Texas at Austin

Dyer, James The Fondren Foundation Centennial Chair in Business, Professor of Management Science and Information Systems; Department of Management Science and Information Systems, University of Texas at Austin

Frederick, William President Emeritus, University of Pittsburgh

Goldberg, Ellen President; Santa Fe Institute

Kelso, Scott Glenwood and Martha Creech Chair in Science, Professor of Complex Systems and Brain Sciences; Florida Atlantic University

McDaniel, Reuben Chairholder, Department of Mgmt Science & Information Systems, University of Texas at Austin

Meyer, Alan Academic Director of Entrepreneurship Programs, Lundquist Professor of Entrepreneurial Management; University of Oregon

Petzinger, Tom Chairman and CEO of LaunchCyte LLC, A Bio-Informatics Technology Network, Pittsburgh, PA

Pierce, John C. Professor to Family Medicine, Chief Academic Officer; Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center, Phoenix, AZ

Prigogine, Ilya Founder, Director; Ilya Prigogine Center for Studies in Statistical Mechanics and Complex Systems, University of Texas at Austin, Winner of Nobel Prize in 1977

Reichl, Linda Professor of Physics and Associate Director of Ilya Prigogine Center for Statistical Mechanics and Complex Systems, University of Texas at Austin

Rogers, Everett Regents Professor Department of Communications and Journalism at the University of New Mexico

Stanley, Eugene* Professor of Physics and Physiology, Director of Center for Polymer Studies; Boston University

Taylor, James President, University of Louisville Hospital

West, Bruce Professor, Department of Physics; University of North Texas at Denton

Weick, Karl Rensis Likert Collegiate Professor of Organizational Behavior and Professor of Psychology; University of Michigan

Wallerstein, Immanuel Director; Fernand Braudel Center for the Study of Economies

Organized by:

The Plexus Institute

Ilya Prigogine Center for Studies in Statistical Mechanics and Complex Sytems, The University of Texas at Austin

IC² Institute, The University of Texas at Austin

Herb Kelleher Center for Entrepreneurship, McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas at Austin

Conference contacts:

Curt Lindberg: Curt@PlexusInstitute.com
Darren Stanley: darren@PlexusInstitute.com

Local contacts:
Nan Watkins: Nan.Watkins@bus.utexas.edu
Annie Harding: annie@physics.utexas.edu

Last updated 1/17/03