Aaron Dignan: How To Think Like a Startup from 99U on Vimeo.

We all know about the nimble startup that outflanks the big guys. But how can larger institutions take advantage of the same cultural phenomena as their smaller, newer counterparts? In this presentation, Undercurrent founding partner Aaron Dignan juxtaposes the characteristics that make businesses (and some aspects of nature) last for the long haul.
The most successful companies of the digital age display characteristics of what Dignan calls a “complex adaptive system.” They are networks instead of hierarchies, they process information rather than manage it, and they adapt rather than sustain. By thinking like a complex adaptive system, Dignan says, “you will be able to handle complexity and scale and you’ll be able to adapt in a way that your competition won’t.”