where are un-ordered tools?

While digging up some stuff on my old blog I found this post: The new dynamics of strategy: Sense-making in a complex and complicated world that I published back in December of 2004. Almost 7 years later and I'm not so sure that we've made progress with real-world tools leveraging this research.

The authors coin the term un-order in much the same sense as undead, to refer to "emergent order". Not an absence of order, but instead the patterns that emerge from situations which undergo continual change, subject to chaotic influences. This is of particular interest to the agile community and particularly XPers, whose motto isembrace change, which explains why it seems to be getting a lot of attention from agile bloggers. I see a window of opportunity opening up for a slew of open-source projects that build on this information. While reading Wisdom of Crowds, I got the strong impression that a far-flung organization (such as the the consulting company that I work for), will benefit by moving agressively on these knowledge management advances. For instance, devise a polling tool with differing modes that match the various identities that we live on a day-to-day basis, namely: consultant, coach, manager, member of our client team, member of the parent company. Within each of these modes, features that allow referendums and continual feedback for all levels: personal, team and organization.

Maybe Asana is a step in the right direction? I've been using it with my new startup as our project management tool for everything that doesn't fit into Pivotal Tracker. Liking it so far.