The presumption of almost all work is that a hierarchy will work effectively, gather information from variety of sources and develop tactics of behaviour. In complex systems, there are many different areas, all moving in different directions and at different speeds, doing localised things which are relevant. The idea that a central processing unit that can gather up all of this information and make decisions about the whole system… the theories fall down.
Elinor Ostrom interviewed by Ben Ramalingam at Aid On The Edge Of Chaos. Conversations on Complexity: A Tribute to Elinor Ostrom (via protoslacker)