Off to Paris!

This is my first blog for Cognitive Edge, so welcome to my thoughts and musings! An interesting and challenging couple of days ahead as I jet off to the European Complexity Conference in Paris tomorrow, which should be very interesting. The challenging bit is I’ve also volunteered to take both my daughters with me, Bronwen who’s 11 and Saffir who’s 7 years old! Thankfully they both like museums and a bit of culture and I’ve planned some surprises for them around the conference. The Eiffel Tower is obligatory of course, and a trip down the Seine, but I have yet to tell them about the tour of the old sewer network! He he!

As for the conference, should be good to get involved in the discussions……. it’s based on Complexity Modeling, or to be more specific computer based modeling of complex systems. The principle of it is about trying to model human based systems into scientific fact and structure with the implication that by defining patterns of yesterday (which you can do) you can predict what will happen in the future (which is perhaps debatable?). All sounds good of course, but anything involving human systems is unpredictable in my mind and disputes the notion of Complexity Theory in a management context as we are talking about the management of human beings. I look forward to the debate!

Wish me luck as I brave Charles De Gaulle airport, arguably one of the most confusing airports in the world! Or so I’ve heard……. Will come back to you with some insights into my Parisian experience avec les enfants!

Dr Paul T Thomas
BBC Radio Wales Business Doctor
Director Welsh Research Unit for Governance & Leadership, Uni of Glamorgan
Founder DNA Wales Network