LANGUAGE'S IMPACT ON LANDSCAPES

A distinctive part of every human system is language. Existing language sets the stage for what can happen next. We cannot develop beyond our language. Science is a language. Professions are languages. Cooperation and coordination of action are a matter of language. As we develop a language around something, we create the privilege of access, common understanding, and mastery for others.

As human affairs emerge and organise, language provides a means for developing and settling a system. There is a particular aspect of language, contracting, which provides the possibility for the making of contracts that encourage and support the coordination of action in a social context. This domain reaches far beyond any legal interpretation. In committed conversation, the making of requests and promises are the primary speech acts. The public acts of requesting and promising, whether formal or informal, are the basis of contracting upon which the settling of activity is based. The foundation of committed language is the current understanding of the world which is being maintained by the language of the social system.

Connections between things are brought forth in language. The past lives in language. The possible actions of our future are inherent in our language.

The stability of a condition is directly related to its depth of connection (integration) to the whole; and the depth of connection can be seen in language. One can utilise this knowledge to assess where an idea, product, or corporation stands. As we develop our understanding of language, we become better equipped to explore and assess the depth of impact of particular actions, i.e. will something create profound changes or will it have a superficial impact? This shifts emphasis from a focus on long-term planning to becoming continually better at sensing, seeing patterns, and interpreting. Shifting focus is a function of flexibility in thinking and organising in cells. The immediate future of a local area is somewhat predictable. And by comparison, the exploration of a distant area is much less so. The distant future of expansive areas is impossible to predict. Foreshadowing is available for those who see landscapes existing in the prevailing language.

The structure of the future is present in our current conditions. That structure can be revealed, articulated, designed, and redesigned by use of language. An organization can be designed to be so connected with the structure of the future, that it is both adaptive and innovative as a creator of that future. The world we live in is not chaotic, nor do statements of unpredictability totally match our experience. We can profoundly influence our future. The integration that is allowed by expansion through increasing complexity -- in the world and in language -- enables one to be very successful at prediction. This ability to integrate rewards some individuals or corporations with the capacity to be exceptional at creating conditions favourable for themselves, while others merely try to keep up. An organization that is designed to match the principles of increasing complexity has an exceptional advantage at being able to both adapt and innovate as it creates its future.