Complex Adaptive Systems and Generative Organization Development: A Conceptual Integration for Enhancing Organizational Adaptability.

Abstract: This manuscript offers a conceptual integration of complex adaptive systems theory and generative organization development. While generative organization development has often been described as rooted in complexity science, the relationship between Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) and Generative Organization Development (OD) has not been explicitly articulated in existing literature. This paper positions generative OD as a practical mechanism through which organizations sustain non-equilibrium conditions necessary for adaptation in complex environments. Specifically, the paper makes three contributions. First, it reframes generative OD not merely as a dialogic intervention, but as an organizing mechanism that enhances organizational adaptability within CAS. Second, it clarifies how generative image functions as attractors that help organizations engage in enduring paradoxes such as innovation versus productivity— within adaptive spaces. Third, it articulates leadership-as-host as an enabling leadership practice that intentionally shapes conditions for self-organizing and emergence, offering clear implications for OD practitioners and leaders.