Editorial Introduction to the Special Double Issue on Complexity Thinking and Systems Theory

Welcome to Volume 9! To begin this new look volume of ECO we have, among others, brought together a special collection of papers and articles that are drawn from no less than three recent complexity conferences. All of the academic and practitioner section papers were selected from the recent ANZSYS/ISCE collaboration that resulted in the International 11th ANZSYS / Managing the Complex V conference that was held December 5-7, 2005 in Christchurch, New Zealand. The purpose of this event was to provide a lively forum for discussion and debate for a wide range of academics and practitioners in the fields of systems thinking, complexity science and management. People from other disciplines who had an interest in the application of systems thinking and complexity approaches were also invited to participate. The event brought together thinkers and practitioners in the fields of systems and complexity as it seemed to the organizers that there had been a significant international resurgence in these areas in recent years. The fields of systems and complexity have many similarities, yet they are being developed by two overlapping research communities that have unique insights to bring to bear on the management of 'wicked' problems. By providing forums in which people working at the frontiers of complexity and systems thinking can learn from one another, significant new insights for action can emerge. At the end of the day, it is important to the vast majority of those working with complexity and systems ideas that they are able to make a positive difference in people's lives. It is therefore vitally important that we share our insights and build a community of practitioners that can take the research agenda forward. A primary goal of the 11th ANZSYS / Managing the Complex V event was to bring together as many people as possible engaged in complex environmental, social and business issues, with the intention of promoting an intense and lively debate with real implications for systems and complexity practice. The hope of the organizers is that this conference was a step in the right direction. It is no secret that in recent issues of E:CO we have attempted to raise awareness amongst complexity thinkers of the extensive systems thinking literature, and its relevance to our community. The Christchurch event was a major step in this endeavor. From the complex systems perspective, papers were submitted by experienced complexity thinkers, as one would expect. A series of papers were also submitted by systems researchers who took the opportunity at ANZSYS 11 to attempt to use the language and ideas of complexity thinking in their systems research. This led to some interesting syntheses in which complexity ideas were applied in ways not necessarily familiar to E.CO's audience. One reason to be particularly interested in these papers is because they emerge at the boundary between 'systems' and 'complexity'. Purists might argue that if people want to use complexity concepts differently, this should be discouraged. Such linear thinking is often associated with calls for the solidification of definitions that can enable measurable progress. Apparently, flexible and fluid applications hinder such efforts. For some reason the need to measure progress often accompanies the need to establish boundaries - actually the need for boundaries is derived from the need to measure. So measuring progress in complexity thinking requires that we first determine exactly what we mean by the term 'complexity', thus allowing us to define exactly what complexity thinking is; its tools, its methods, its areas of applications, etc. If we accept this, then complexity thinking would be squeezed into the form of a nice and neat '-ism', such as reductionism or holism. To those purists who would support such an endeavor, the following quote from Dewey is offered: "For in spite of itself any movement that thinks and acts in terms of an 'ism becomes so involved in reaction against other 'isms that it is unwit- tingly controlled by them. …