We Are Complex Organisms Just Trying to Make Something Happen

"The main character of any living system is openness." — Ilya Romanovich Prigogine

Have you ever worked in a team where one person — through their energy, attitude, or mere presence — completely shifted the atmosphere? Maybe they were assertive, loud, dismissive, or radiated negativity. You could almost feel the air change when they entered the room. We have all experienced this. I certainly have. And it never fails to remind me of one essential truth: we are not machines; we are living systems.

The Living Ecosystem of Leadership

Over years of coaching leaders and observing team dynamics, I have come to see that every organization functions much like a biological ecosystem. It’s alive, breathing, adapting, constantly reorganizing itself in response to change.

Your team, your culture, your organization; they aren’t static structures. They’re complex organisms, made up of multiple organ systems (people) performing different but interdependent functions (roles, perspectives, actions).

When each system is healthy and working in harmony, the organism thrives. But when one element becomes toxic, rigid, or disconnected, it ripples through the entire body.

We often underestimate how subtle these shifts can be. A small change — a single hire, a neglected conversation, a moment of mistrust — can quietly alter the entire system’s chemistry. In biology, we’d call that a mutation. In organizations, we call it culture change.

The Science of Connection

My curiosity led me deep into the work of biologist Ludwig von Bertalanffy, who developed General Systems Theory in the 1940s. His revolutionary insight was that all living systems — whether a cell, a forest, or an organization — exist through interdependence.

Later, thinkers built upon this idea to develop Complex Adaptive Systems Theory, recognizing that systems aren’t just interconnected; they are in a state of constant evolution. Change isn’t an interruption; it’s the rule.

And the leaders who thrive in this reality aren’t the ones who try to control every variable. They’re the ones who cultivate the conditions for adaptation. They create psychological safety, trust, and feedback loops that allow their teams to sense, respond, and grow together.

Why This Matters Now

The pace of change today mirrors the speed of evolution in nature. Technology, global interconnection, and social change have turned every business, every team, into a dynamic organism in perpetual motion. And yet, many leaders still operate like engineers trying to fix a machine — tightening bolts, replacing parts, expecting predictable outputs.

But humans aren’t cogs. We’re chemistry. We’re energy. We’re emotion and possibility in constant motion. When you start to lead through that lens, everything changes. You begin to:

• Notice the small shifts that signal systemic imbalance before they turn into crises.

• Value the quieter members of your team, whose unseen work stabilizes the whole.

• Recognize that conflict, when held with care, is not dysfunction; it’s the organism’s way of healing itself.

• Understand that leadership isn’t about command and control; it’s about tuning into the pulse of the system and helping it find its rhythm again.

The Art of Leading Living Systems

So, what can you do? Start by remembering this: everything and everyone matters. Every conversation, every gesture, every decision releases energy into the system. See your team as a whole that relies on its parts, and your leadership as the force that keeps those parts communicating and aligned. And when everything is working in flow — when clarity, trust, and creativity move freely — the system becomes far more than the sum of its parts. That’s when true alchemy happens.

Leadership, at its core, is not about managing people. It’s about nurturing life; creating the conditions where complexity can thrive, where individuals evolve together into something profoundly alive. Because in the end, that’s what we all are:
Complex organisms just trying to make something happen.