Icosystem recognizes that a common property of complex systems is phase transitions. Phase transitions refer to abrupt, nonlinear "jumps" (e.g., ice melts, hot water boils) that arise as consequences of complex interactions. The consequences of a particular action in a business scenario then can be highly dependent on the state of the overall system.

Imagine a pile of buttons is placed on a table. Select two buttons at random and join them up with a thread and continue this selection and joining process. Now imagine that after each operation we examine the clusters of buttons that are joined together (i.e. if we lift a button up, how many come with it?) and note the size of the largest cluster. If we do this many times and plot the results, what we see is the following relationship between cluster size and the number of threads.

We can see that the "pay-off" for investing in one more connection is highly dependent on how many connections have already been made. If instead of thinking about buttons we now think in terms of people or companies, we can see how an understanding of the network effects of our actions can help us choose which connections are most appropriate for our objectives and hence stay on the most productive part of the S-Curve.

• Core Science
  • Complexity Science vs. Reductionism
  • Nonlinearity vs. Connectivity
  • Emergence
  • Evolution