The science of complexity is founded on the repeated finding that important
behaviours of different complex adaptive systems can be described by a sma
ll number of principles. In spite of growing interest, applications to huma
n social organization have been limited to metaphor and analogy-no theoreti
cal principles have been proposed. In this article a general description of
the characteristics of emergence and coherence as a wider pattern of organ
ization leads to the proposal that six general principles, or necessary con
ditions, underlie "adaption" to complex and uncertain environments. It is t
hen argued that two key regularities in the development and final shape of
human cognition make this deeper understanding of systems directly relevant
and applicable to human social organization-as eight principles that enabl
e us to organize simply for a complexity. Four of the principles-level-spec
ific capability; values; level-specific work processes-are discussed in mor
e detail. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.