We're already doing it. That is, we're already doing engineering of complex adaptive system. It happens every time a general develops an op-plan. It happens every time a large corporation launches a new product. And, the stock market--the ultimate complex adaptive system--'redesigns' the American economy every day. Some days it's a tweak. Some days it's a major overhaul. Winners and losers are chosen.

What we don't do--at least not very well--is describe what we do and how we make decisions in the management of complex adaptive systems.

The 'control paradigm' is broken for large, complex systems. You just can't find a parameter to monitor, another to adjust, and keep a complex system within design limits. Large systems defy efforts to create a control function. In the free market, your competition adjusts and your customers evolve.

But, we've been 'managing' systems that we can't control for a long, long time.

Have you every heard about the process of determining the right places for footpaths across a college lawn? A clever landscaper decided, first, to plant grass on the entire lawn. Then, where the grass was worn away by foot traffic, that's where the concrete was laid for permanent footpaths. That's 'design' for complex adaptive systems.