F o o t n o t e s:

1. This term is from recent work of Robert Axelrod that was presented at the "Complexity and Strategy" conferences jointly sponsored by the author with his partners and the Santa Fe Institute in San Francisco and London. It extends work presented in his earlier book 'The Evolution of Co-operation" and suggested to me the term I'm using here "the structure of the future." The relationship of the two will become apparent later in the article.

2. from "Postmodern Theory" by Best and Kellner

3. Complex adaptive systems are those systems which survive by adaptation or learning. These systems largely create their own environment due to the fact the most significant components of their environment are others entities like themselves. This definition of such systems is my interpretation of the work being done at SFI and by others such as Francisco Varela of Ecole Polytechnique in Paris presented at the London conference on 'Complexity and Strategy."

4. Christopher Langton and others at SFI have developed computer programmes which demonstrate this emergent cause and effect. These produce simulation platforms that can be employed to investigate the phenomena in a wide variety of areas.

5. From a presentation of Arie de Geus, ex Shell executive, at the "Complexity and Strategy" conference in London. A brief look at this material can be obtained from the RSA in London and more detail from Arie's (so far untitled) soon to be published book.

6. Compound complex adaptive systems is the term Murray Gell-Mann of the Santa Fe Institute used at the "Complexity and Strategy" conferences for those domains which arise from the interplay of other complex adaptive systems and exist by interacting with an environment of other complex adaptive systems. He explores this more fully in his latest book "The Quark and the Jaguar."

7. I use the term "system" here in the broadest sense as defined by J. W. Gibbs quoted in John Warfield's book A Science of Generic Design "any portion of the material universe which we choose to separate in thought from the rest of the universe for the purpose of considering and discussing the various changes which may occur within it under various conditions" and, as John and I agree, we would omit the word "material" from the quote.

8. see reference 1 - He uses the term to refer to the degree to which we expect our current actions to affect our environment and therefor affect our future. He has extended this to exploring the co-evolving strategies and how they affect each other depending on assumptions about future learning.

9. Presented by the author at the "Complexity and Strategy" conferences and more fully developed in his recent book "The Intelligence Advantage: Organising for Complexity".

10. Presented at the "Complexity and Strategy" conferences and outlined in his new book "Hidden Order: How Adaptation Builds Complexity".

11. Presented at the "Complexity and Strategy" conferences and more fully developed in his latest book, "At Home in the Universe".

© 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd, International Journal of Strategic Management, Long Range Planning