As human systems evolve they tends to happens in developmental stages or levels, for example as people grow from children into adolescents and adults. Groups tend to storm, norm and perform. These stages have limited sets of behaviours, tasks, characteristics, thinking patterns, emotional issues, etc. This determines how we as humans are likely to function - for example, within set conditions (outside-in), local interactions (bottom-up) or when complying with a given set of rules (top-down).

The dynamic balance between internal capability and external environment creates 'attractors'. When the attractors change the behaviour changes. Culture is a good example of a set of attractors (rules, conditions or principles) that impact on the behaviour of individuals in an organisation's complex adaptive system.

To change a culture or a set of behaviours, the 'attractors' have to change. This change is called a bifurcation. A Change Coach looks for what it would take to create a birfurcation point in order to shift habits, language, moods and the sense-making rules used by a client. The result is often a change in typical behaviour. The client is then locked-in to a new 'attractor' which better serves their interesta and deals with their concerns.

For example, a change of organisational policy or practice can result in a sustainable change to a business or an institution. The marked change in behavior can be considered a 'bifurcation' or 'phase transition' in which old behaviours die and new ones emerge.

Types of Attractors

Fixed Point Attractors
This happens when people or organisations get "stuck" in a rut of habitual activity or set of behaviours that they are unable to adapt to changing conditions. We talk about people being in their 'comfort zone' because they close themselves off - behaving like hedgehogs, waiting for the environment to recover so they can carry on as before. They react this way because they perceive that they have a limited range of resources or possibilitie to draw from. When their environment changes they are unlikely to survive because they find it difficult to see how things could possibly be different.

Limited or Periodic Attractors
This attractor offers more possibilities than a fixed point attractor. It behaves as if it constantly fluctuates between two extremes. You would see this in a person's mood swings or an organistion that lurches from new start to disaster because it cannot sustain the change for long, so it reverts back to type. This is observed in Change Coaching as a self-fulfilling prophecy. It happens when, for example, someone gets into a new job or new project and it fails because they have a limited set of strategies to cope with the new conditions in a more complex environement.

Strange Attractors
This type of 'attractor' exists at the edge of chaos such that it never repeats its behaviour in exactly the same way, so it appears as creative and dynamic. You se thids when behaviours cluster around a set of acceptable values. This makes innovation possible, but within boundaries or principles that stop the system falling into a chaotic state. It's viability is very much dependent on the initial conditions from which it evolves. For example, the underlying values and beliefs that shape behaviour are shared and demonstrated by other agents in the system (other people in a group or organisation).

The strange attractor is a useful metaphor for creating the conditions for continuous improvement or evolution. These factors are reflected in Steve Trivett's Dynamic Change Model.

		GLOBAL Rules being applied to the whole system From the TOP-DOWN
CONTEXTUAL Reacting to environmental changes From the OUTSIDE-IN		THE CHANGE ZONE		MINDFUL Choices made by individual agents From the INSIDE-OUT
		LOCAL Rules being applied to local interactions From the BOTTOM-UP

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x	Mindful change is created from the INSIDE-OUT when you know how to think, feel and act differently to get what you want and know how to plan for its achievement.
x	Local change emerges from the BOTTOM-UP when you can interact and getthe cooperation of other people around you to secure their com[pliance to react in a consistent way.
x	Contextual change comes from the OUTSIDE-IN when thoughts and actions are stimulated by, and things are perceived from, the perspective of an outside observer.
x	Global change is imposed from the TOP-DOWN when you obey the rules and comply with principles that are not of your own making, but will ensure your continued survival.

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