Could public administration research gain something by analyzing issues, practices, and events in ways “beyond the usual”? Could we learn something by analyzing movies? As public administration researchers, we are curious to see what lessons can be drawn from movies based on chaos theory. In this article, three movies, Chaos Theory, The Butterfly Effect, and Mr. Nobody, are analyzed. Analyzing these movies provides two advantages. First, it illustrates the content of chaos theory in an easy-to-understand format. Second, it links the actions in the movies with those of public officials in the real world, providing ideal models of “chaos management.”
AndradeL.PlowmanD. A.DuchonD. (2008). Getting past conflict resolution: A complexity view of conflict. Emergence: Complexity & Organization, 10(1), 23-38.
2.
ArthurW. B. (1990). Positive feedbacks in the economy. Scientific American, 262, 92-99.
3.
BressE.GruberJ. M. (directors) (2004). The Butterfly Effect. United States: New Line Cinema.
4.
BrewerG. A.NeubauerB. J.GeiselhartK. (2006). Designing and implementing e-government systems: Critical implications for public administration and democracy. Administration & Society, 38, 472-499. doi:10.1177/0095399706290638
5.
BumsJ. S. (2002). Chaos theory and leadership studies: Exploring uncharted seas. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 9(2), 41-56.
6.
ByrneD. (1998). Complexity theory and the social sciences: An introduction. London, England: Routledge.
7.
ByrneD.CallaghanG. (2014). Complexity theory and the social sciences: The state of the art. London, England: Routledge.
8.
CamillusJ. C. (2008). Strategy as a wicked problem. Harvard Business Review, 86(5), 99-106.
9.
CartwrightT. J. (1991). Planning and chaos theory. Journal of the American Planning Association, 57, 44-56.
10.
CastiJ. (1995). Complexification: Explaining a paradoxical world through the science of surprise. New York, NY: HarperCollins Books.
11.
CatlawT. J.JordanG. M. (2009). Public administration and “the lives of others”: Toward an ethics of collaboration. Administration & Society, 41, 290-312.
12.
CilliersP. (2000). What can we learn from a theory of complexity?Emergence: Complexity & Organization, 2(1), 23-33. doi:10.1207/S15327000EM0201_03
13.
ConklinJ. (2005). Dialogue mapping: Building shared understanding of wicked problems. New York, NY: John Wiley.
14.
DennardL. F. (2008). Goldilocks loses her paradigm. Administration & Society, 40, 522-541. doi:10.1177/0095399708322947
15.
EaganJ. (2011). Public administration and film, Part 1. Administrative Theory & Praxis, 33, 585-585.
16.
ErikssonJ.-T. (1993). Kaaosteoria ja kompleksisten järjestelmien hallittavuus [Chaos theory and the controllability of complex systems]. In VapaavuoriM.von BruunS. (Eds.), Miten tutkimme tulevaisuutta? [How do we research futures?] (pp. 39-64). Tampere, Finland: Tulevaisuuden tutkimuksen seura ry.
17.
FagginiM. (2008). Chaotic systems and new perspectives for economics methodology: A review from literature. In DennardL.RichardsonK. A.MorçölG. (Eds.), Complexity and policy analysis (pp. 215-229). Goodyear, AZ: ISCE Publishing.
18.
GleickJ. (1987). Chaos: Making a new science. New York, NY: Penguin Books.
19.
GrintK. (2005). Problems, problems, problems: The social construction of leadership. Human Relations, 58, 1467-1493. doi:10.1177/0018726705061314
20.
GrintK. (2010). The cuckoo clock syndrome: Addicted to command, allergic to leadership. European Management Journal, 28, 306-313. doi:10.1016/j.emj.2010.05.002
21.
GrobmanG. M. (2005). Complexity theory: A new way to look at organizational change. Public Administration Quarterly, 29, 350-382.
22.
HeadB. W.AlfordJ. (2013). Wicked problems: Implications for public policy and management. Administration & Society. Advance online publication. doi:10.1177/0095399713481601
23.
HietikkoH. (2008). Valta, johtajuus, tuho ja toivo J.R.R. Tolkienin teoksessa Taru sormusten herrasta eli “Management by Sauron” [Power, leadership, doom and hope in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings or “management by Sauron”] (Doctoral dissertation). University of Tampere, Finland.
24.
HoffmanM. C.PyneJ.GajewskiM. (2012). The ten masks of administrative evil. Administrative Theory & Praxis, 34, 125-132.
25.
JalonenH. (2007). Kompleksisuusteoreettinen tulkinta hallinnollisen tehokkuuden ja luovuuden yhteensovittamisesta kunnallisen päätöksenteon valmisteluun [Complexity-based interpretation of integrating effectiveness and creativity in the preparation of municipal decision-making] (Doctoral dissertation). Tampere University of Technology, Tampereen yliopistopaino, Finland. (Publication 693)
26.
JentoftS.ChuenpagdeeR. (2009). Fisheries and coastal governance as a wicked problem. Marine Policy, 33, 553-560. doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2008.12.002
27.
KarjalainenK. (2005). Politiikkaa Asterixin maailmassa [Politics in the world of Asterix]. Helsinki, Finland: Ajatus Kirjat.
28.
KauffmanS. (1995). At home in the universe: The search for the laws of self organization and complexity. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
29.
KielL. D. (1994). Managing chaos and complexity in government: A new paradigm for managing change, innovation, and organizational renewal. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
30.
KielL. D.ElliottE. (Eds.). (1996). Chaos theory in the social sciences: Foundations and applications. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
31.
KingJ. B. (1993). Learning to solve the right problems: The case of nuclear power in America. Journal of Business Ethics, 12, 105-116.
32.
KlijnE.-H. (2008). Complexity theory and public administration: What’s new. Key concepts in complexity theory compared to their counterparts in public administration research. Public Management Review, 10, 299-317.
33.
LevyD. (1994). Chaos theory and strategy: Theory, application, and managerial implications. Strategic Management Journal, 15, 167-178.
LundströmN. (2012). Perhosista pyörremyrskyjä. Aluekehittäminen kompleksisessa ympäristössä [Butterflies from Hurricanes. Regional development in a Complex Environment]. Unpublished Licenciate Theses.
36.
LundströmN.RaisioH. (2013). Elokuvat tieteellisten teorioiden popularisoijina: Kaaosteoria kolmen elokuvan näkökulmasta [Movies popularizing scientific theories: Chaos theory from the perspective of the three movies]. Tieteessä tapahtuu, 31, 24-29.
37.
MannermaaM. (1991). Evolutionaarinen tulevaisuudentutkimus: Tulevaisuudentut-kimuksen paradigmojen ja niiden metodologisten ominaisuuksien tarkastelua [Evolutionary futures research: Examining paradigms and their methodological differences] (Acta Futura Fennica No. 2). Helsinki, Finland: VAPK-kustannus.
38.
MarshallG. (2012). Applying film to public administration. Administrative Theory & Praxis, 34, 133-142.
39.
McCurdyH. E. (1995). Fiction and imagination: How they affect public administration. Public Administration Review, 55, 499-506.
40.
MeekJ. W. (2010). Complexity theory for public administration and policy. Emergence: Complexity & Organization, 12(1), 1-4.
41.
Mitleton-KellyE. (2003). Ten principles of complexity & enabling infrastructures. In Mitleton-KellyE. (Ed.), Complex systems and evolutionary perspectives of organisations: The application of complexity theory to organisations (pp. 23-50). Oxford, UK: Elsevier Science.
42.
MorçölG. (2005). A new systems thinking: Implications of the sciences of complexity for public policy and administration. Public Administration Quarterly, 29, 297-320.
43.
MorçölG. (2008a). Complexity of public policy and administration: Introduction to the special issue. Public Administration Quarterly, 32, 306-313.
44.
MorçölG. (2008b). A complexity theory for policy analysis: An outline and proposals. In DennardL.RichardsonK. A.MorçölG. (Eds.), Complexity and policy analysis (pp. 23-36). Goodyear, AZ: ISCE Publishing.
45.
MorçölG. (2012). A complexity theory for public policy. New York, NY: Routledge.
46.
MorganG. (2006). Images of organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
47.
PhelanS. E. (2001). What is complexity science, really?Emergence: Complexity & Organization, 3(1), 120-136.
48.
PoniewozikJ. (2006, November6). Intimate strangers. TIME Magazine, 168(20), 142-142.
49.
SiegaM. (director) (2008). Chaos Theory. United States: Warner Bros. Pictures.
50.
RaisioH. (2010). Embracing the wickedness of health care: Essays on reforms, wicked problems and public deliberation. Vaasa: Vaasa University Press.
51.
RichardsonK. A. (2008). Managing complex organizations: Complexity thinking and the science and art of management. Emergence: Complexity & Organization, 10(2), 13-26.
52.
RichardsonK. A.CilliersP. (2001). Special editors’ introduction: What is complexity science? A view from different direction. Emergence: Complexity & Organization, 3(1), 5-23.
53.
RittelH. W. J.WebberM. (1973). Dilemmas in a general theory of planning. Policy Sciences, 4, 155-169.
54.
RuelleD. (1991). Chance and chaos. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
55.
SementelliA. (2009). Images in public administration: Using popular media to bridge theories and practices. Journal of Management Development, 28, 607-621.
56.
SotarautaM. (1996). Kohti epäselvyyden hallintaa. Pehmeä strategia 2000-luvun alun suunnittelun lähtökohtana [Towads governance of ambiguity: Soft strategy as a starting point for planning in the beginning of 2000] (Acta Futura Fennica No. 6). Tampere, Finland: Finn Publishers.
57.
StaceyR. D. (1996). Complexity and creativity in organizations. San Francisco, CA: Berret-Koehler.
58.
StåhleP.KuosaT. (2009). Systeemien itseuudistuminen—Uutta ymmärrystä kollektiivien kehittymiseen [Self-renewal of systems—New understanding of the development of collectives]. Aikuiskasvatus, 29, 104-115.
59.
SternM. (2004). Jurassic park and the moveable feast of science. Science as Culture, 13, 347-372. doi:10.1080/0950543042000262422
60.
StoutM. (2011). Portraits of politicians, administrators, and citizens. Administrative Theory & Praxis, 33, 604-609.
61.
TanejaS.PryorM. D.HumphreysJ. H.SingletonL. P. (2013). Strategic management in an era of paradigmatic chaos: Lessons for managers. International Journal of Management, 31(1), 112-126.
62.
TeismanG. R.KlijnE.-H. (2008). Complexity theory and public management: An introduction. Public Management Review, 10, 287-297.
63.
TeismanG. R.NooteboomS.DeelstraY. (2012). Balance between order and chaos as emerging value in complexity leadership. In GerritsL.MarksP. (Eds.), COMPACT I: Public administration & complexity (pp. 289-303). Litchfield Park, AZ: Emergent Publications.
64.
TermeerC. J. A. M.DewulfA.BreemanG.StillerS. (2013). Governance capabilities for dealing wisely with wicked problems. Administration & Society. Advance online publication. doi:10.1177/0095399712469195
65.
VisscherK.RipA. (2003). Coping with chaos in change process. Creativity and Innovation Management, 12, 121-128.
66.
van DormaelJ. (director) (2009). Mr. Nobody. Belgium: Wild Bunch.
67.
von BertalanffyL. (1969). General systems theory: Foundations, development, applications. New York, NY: George Braziller.
68.
WeberJ. A. (2005). Introduction to chaos, complexity, uncertainty and public administration: A symposium. Public Administration Quarterly, 29, 262-267.
69.
ZimmermanB.LindbergC.PlsekP. (2008). Edgeware: Insights from complexity science for health care leaders. Irving, TX: VHA.
