Michael Lissack
these decisions, ensuring alignment even when specific actions can’t be prescribed in advance. A manufacturing company facing supply chain disruptions estab- lished clear values—safety, customer commitment, and long-term think- ing—to guide decisions about allocating constrained resources. These values provided consistent direction across diverse situations, enabling local teams to make decisions aligned with organizational priorities even when specific guidelines didn’t exist. Sustainable coherence isn’t a static condition but a continuously re- generated quality that emerges from these ongoing processes. The coher- ent organization doesn’t achieve coherence once and for all but constantly renews it through intentional practices that create shared meaning and alignment. Ethics and Responsibility in Complex Systems As the Stockholm discussion concluded, participants turned to the ethical dimensions of navigating complexity. They recognized that in- creasing complexity creates new responsibilities for organizations as their actions reverberate through interconnected systems with often unpredict- able consequences. “The traditional approach to corporate responsibility focused on com- pliance and risk management,” noted the Chief Ethics Officer of a global corporation. “But in complex environments, that’s not enough. We need to develop ethical capabilities throughout the organization to navigate situa- tions where the right course isn’t clear and the consequences are uncertain.” This insight highlights a key aspect of the coherent organization of tomorrow—ethical navigation isn’t a compliance function but a core or- ganizational capability. Several dimensions characterize this approach: Systemic Responsibility: Coherent organizations recognize their responsibility not just for direct actions but for their role in broader sys- tems. They consider how their decisions affect diverse stakeholders, envi- ronmental systems, and social dynamics.
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