{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,10]],"date-time":"2026-02-10T18:28:29Z","timestamp":1770748109934,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2015,2,2]],"date-time":"2015-02-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1422835200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2015,2,2]]},"abstract":"\n Purpose<\/jats:title>\n \u2013 The purpose of this paper is to explain why systems must make a habit of exploring the unknown and identify the complex and chaotic dynamics that drive modern volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) situations. <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title>\n \u2013 Eight faculty staff from the \u201cThunderbird School of Global Management\u201d were interviewed around the subject of \u201cwhat does it take to be a successful 21st Century leader?\u201d in spring 2012. These interviews were then analysed using Ricoeur\u2019s Hermeneutic methodology which resulted in three behaviours being identified. Then, according to Ricoeur\u2019s methodology, deep interpretation of the results took place to understand these research results through the lens of complexity science. <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Findings<\/jats:title>\n \u2013 Systems must make a habit of actively exploring the unknown to discover the patterns that cause complex chaos. This enables them to improve their capacity to generate useful situational understanding in VUCA environments and better position themselves in the fitness landscape. Finally, the idea of \u201cepistemic stance\u201d is introduced as an important way of managing identity and improving innovation. <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Research limitations\/implications<\/jats:title>\n \u2013 The implication is that modern systems, e.g. leaders and organisations, must make a habit of exploring the unknown to find and understand the dynamics that drive the complex world if they are to build effective situational understanding of VUCA environments. <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Practical implications<\/jats:title>\n \u2013 If systems wish to innovate, they must ensure they have the appropriate epistemic stance in place so that they can change their identity to allow innovation to transform the identity. <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Originality\/value<\/jats:title>\n \u2013 Whilst the behaviour of exploration is already known, this research focuses that behaviour on specifically identifying the patterns that cause complex chaos. Further, the epistemic stance is introduced which plays an important role in regulating how open a system is to changing its identity and therefore adapting and innovating.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/k-09-2014-0189","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2015,1,30]],"date-time":"2015-01-30T06:06:52Z","timestamp":1422598012000},"page":"253-270","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":28,"title":["Why systems must explore the unknown to survive in VUCA environments"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"44","author":[{"given":"Jan","family":"Bartscht","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"140","reference":[{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ackoff, R.L.\n (1998), \u201cA systemic view of transformational leadership\u201d, \n Systemic Practice and Action Research\n , Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 23-36.","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1022960804854"},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ackoff, R.L.\n (2006), \u201cWhy few organizations adopt systems thinking\u201d, \n Systems Research and Behavioral Science\n , Vol. 23 No. 5, pp. 705-708.","DOI":"10.1002\/sres.791"},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Avolio, B.J.\n , \n Walumbwa, F.O.\n and \n Weber, T.J.\n (2009), \u201cLeadership: current theories, research, and future directions\u201d, \n Annual Review of Psychology\n , Vol. 60, pp. 421-449.","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.psych.60.110707.163621"},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b101","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bartscht, J.\n (2013), \u201cThe cybernetics of authenticity\u201d, \n Kybernetes\n , Vol. 42 No. 4, pp. 528-543.","DOI":"10.1108\/K-11-2012-0109"},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b5","unstructured":"Beer, S.\n (1995), \n The Managerial Cybernetics of Organisation, Brain Of The Firm\n , 2nd ed., John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester."},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b6","unstructured":"Beigmann, B.\n (2000), \u201cSelf-organized transitions: a pattern amid the chaos of transformative change\u201d, \n Academy of Management Executive\n , Vol. 14 No. 4, pp. 128-141."},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Burke, P.\n (1991), \u201cIdentity processes and social stress\u201d, \n American Sociological Review\n , Vol. 56 No. 6, pp. 836-849.","DOI":"10.2307\/2096259"},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b8","unstructured":"Burke, P.\n and \n Stets, J.\n (2014), \u201cIdentity verifcaiton and the social order\u201d, unpublished, available at: http:\/\/wat2146.ucr.edu\/papers\/15b.pdf (accessed 9 September 2014)."},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b10","unstructured":"Fishbein, M.\n and \n Ajzen, I.\n (1975), \n Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research\n , Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, available at: http:\/\/people.umass.edu\/aizen\/f&a1975.html%3e (accessed 9 September 2014)."},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b11","unstructured":"Gleick, J.\n (1998), \n Chaos: Making a New Science\n , New ed., Vintage, London."},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b102","unstructured":"Gupta, A.\n and \n Govindarajan, V.\n (2002), \u201cCultivating a global mindset\u201d, \n Academy of Management Executive\n , Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 116-126."},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b9","unstructured":"Hazy, J.\n (2008), \u201cLeadership or luck? The system dynamics of intel\u2019s shift to mircoprocessors in the 1970s and 1980s\u201d, in \n Uhl-Bien, M.\n and \n Marion, R.\n (Eds), Chapter 13, \n Complexity Leadership Part 1: Conceptual Foundations\n , Information Age Publishing Inc., Charlotte, NC, pp. 347-379."},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b13","unstructured":"Hoverstadt, P.\n (2008), \u201cThe viable system model\u201d, in \n Reynolds, M.\n and \n Holwell, S.\n (Eds), Chapter 3, \n Systems Approaches to Managing Change: a Practical Guide\n , Springer, London, pp. 87-133."},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b14","unstructured":"Kotter, J.\n (2001), \u201cWhat leaders really do\u201d, \n Best of HBR, Harvard Business Review\n , Vol. 79 No. 11, pp. 85-96."},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b15","unstructured":"Lichtenstein, B.B.\n , \n Uhl-bien, M.\n , \n Marion, R.\n , \n Seers, A.\n , \n Douglas, J.\n and \n Schreiber, C.\n (2006), \u201cComplexity leadership theory: an interactive perspective on governing in a complex adaptive system\u201d, \n E:CO\n , Vol. 8 No. 4, pp. 2-12."},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b16","unstructured":"Lomas, N.\n (2012), \u201cInnovate or die: Nokia\u2019s long-drawn-out decline\u201d, Techcrunch, n.p, 31 December, available at: http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2012\/12\/31\/nokias-long-drawn-out-decline\/ (accessed 10 September 2014)."},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b17","unstructured":"Lord, R.\n (2008), \u201cBeyond transactional and transformational leadership: can leaders still lead when they don\u2019t know what to do?\u201d, in \n Uhl-Bien, M.\n and \n Marion, R.\n (Eds), Chapter 7, \n Complexity Leadership Part 1: Conceptual Foundations\n , Information Age Publishing Inc., Charlotte, NC, pp. 155-185."},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b20","unstructured":"McKelvey, B.\n (2008), \u201cEmergent strateg via complxity leadership using complexity science and adaptive tension to build distributed intelligence\u201d, in \n Uhl-Bien, M.\n and \n Marion, R.\n (Eds), Chapter 9 \n Complexity Leadership Part 1: Conceptual Foundations\n , Information Age Publishing Inc, Charlotte, NC, pp. 225-269."},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"March, J.\n (1991), \u201cExploration and exploitation in organizational learning\u201d, \n Organization Science\n , Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 71-87.","DOI":"10.1287\/orsc.2.1.71"},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b19","unstructured":"Marion, R.\n (2008), \u201cComplexity theory for organizations and organizational leadership\u201d, in \n Uhl-Bien, M.\n and \n Marion, R.\n (Eds), Chapter 1, \n Complexity Leadership Part 1: Conceptual Foundations\n , Information Age Publishing Inc., Charlotte, NC."},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b21","unstructured":"Meadows, D.\n (2001), \u201cDancing with systems\u201d, \n Whole Earth\n , Winter, No. 106, pp. 58-63."},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b22","unstructured":"Meadows, D.\n (2009), \n Thinking in Systems: a Primer\n , Earthscan, London."},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b23","unstructured":"Morecroft, J.\n (1997), \u201cSystem Dynamics\u201d, in \n Reynolds, M.\n and \n Holwell, S.\n (Eds), Chapter 2, \n Systems Approaches to Managing Change: A Practical Guide\n , Springer, London, pp. 25-85."},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b24","unstructured":"Plowman, D.\n and \n Duchon, D.\n (2008), \u201cDispelling the myths about leadership from cybernetics to emergence\u201d, in \n Uhl-Bien, M.\n and \n Marion, R.\n (Eds), Chapter 6, \n Complexity Leadership Part 1: Conceptual Foundations\n , Information Age Publishing Inc., Charlotte, NC, pp. 129-155."},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Rowe, J.\n (2010), \u201cThe cybernetics of organising: management and leadership\u201d, \n Kybernetes\n , Vol. 39 No. 7, pp. 1100-1111, available at: www.emeraldinsight.com\/10.1108\/03684921011062728 (accessed 30 March 2012).","DOI":"10.1108\/03684921011062728"},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b26","unstructured":"Schwandt, D.\n (2008), \u201cIndividual and collective coevolution leadership as emergent social structuring\u201d, in \n Uhl-Bien, M.\n and \n Marion, R.\n (Eds), Chapter 5, \n Complexity Leadership Part 1: Conceptual Foundations\n , Information Age Publishing Inc., Charlotte, NC, pp. 101-129."},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b27","unstructured":"Strogatz, S.\n (2004), \n Sync: The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order\n , Penguin Group, London."},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b29","unstructured":"Surowiecki, J.\n (2013), \u201cWhere Nokia went wrong\u201d, The New Yorker, n.p, 3 September, available at: www.newyorker.com\/business\/currency\/where-nokia-went-wrong (accessed 10 September 2014)."},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Tetenbaum, T.\n and \n Laurence, H.\n (2011), \u201cLeading in the chaos of the 21st century\u201d, \n Governing in The Chaos of The 21st Century\n , Vol. 4 No. 4, pp. 41-49.","DOI":"10.1002\/jls.20191"},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Uhl-Bien, M.\n , \n Marion, R.\n and \n McKelvey, B.\n , (2007), \u201cComplexity leadership theory: shifting leadership from the industrial age to the knowledge era\u201d, \n The Leadership Quarterly\n , Vol. 18 No. 4, pp. 298-318.","DOI":"10.1016\/j.leaqua.2007.04.002"},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b30","unstructured":"Vallacher, R.\n and \n Nowak, A.\n (2008), \u201cDyanmical social pyschology on complexity and coordination in human experience\u201d, in \n Uhl-Bien, M.\n and \n Marion, R.\n (Eds), Chapter 3, \n Complexity Leadership Part 1: Conceptual Foundations\n , Information Age Publishing Inc., Charlotte, NC."},{"key":"key2020122622503379100_b31","unstructured":"Watkins, M.\n (2012), \u201cHow managers become leaders: the seven seismic shifts of perspective and responsibility\u201d, \n Harvard Business Review\n , Vol. 90 No. 6, pp. 64-72."}],"container-title":["Kybernetes"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"http:\/\/www.emeraldinsight.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1108\/K-09-2014-0189","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/K-09-2014-0189\/full\/xml","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/K-09-2014-0189\/full\/html","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,24]],"date-time":"2025-07-24T21:50:01Z","timestamp":1753393801000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/www.emerald.com\/k\/article\/44\/2\/253-270\/269791"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2015,2,2]]},"references-count":32,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2015,2,2]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1108\/K-09-2014-0189"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1108\/k-09-2014-0189","relation":{},"ISSN":["0368-492X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0368-492X","type":"print"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2015,2,2]]}}}