Learning from Complexity Theory: Is Strategic Planning Obsolete?

III. A / Practice Papers / 141 Learning from Complexity Theory: Is Strategic Planning Obsolete? During the last few years, twentieth century scientific thinking has been creating ripples and raising questions in the business world. These ripples, in the form of complexity theory (which includes chaos theory) have challenged the notions of scientific management, including strategic planning. Complexity theory suggests that a predictable, orderly universe is over, and with it strategic planning. Scientific management, as a discipline, began with theorists like Taylor and managers like Fayol who saw strategic planning as predicting the future, setting goals, and describing how to get there. This orderly process corresponded to Newton’s laws in which he applied the principle of gravity and laws of motion to predict an orderly and controlled universe. In both, the ability to predict and control the future is paramount. In today’s world, the ability to do either is impossible.