Brains, Evolution, Computers & Companies

1. Brains, Evolution, Computers & Companies Correlative mappings of decision making and learning systems by Ed Lee

2. Objectives of talk • Demonstrate how some decision making and learning in companies correlates to similar processes in the brain • Present a useful tool for analyzing our own decision making and learning attitudes

3. Introductory remarks • Researching a book: Plantations in the Rain Forest: the future of civilization a study of human systems in the biosphere • Fundamental questions of book: • How has nature generated robust life for 4 billion years? • What can we do to increase civilization’s robustness? • Problem: author is an engineer, businessman doing a cram course on nature

4. Overview of talk Artifact Organism

5. Strata of Evolution

6. Evolution as seen by an engineer • Localized order (structure) emerges from global randomness • Local negative entropy • Extraction, construction processes • Strata with bi-directional stochastic coupling • Catalysts and enzymes • Dynamic equilibriums • Overproduction and vigorous pruning (opposites) keep each other robust

7. Evolution extracted complex brains

8. Uncertainty is a key tool • Weak bonds, stochastic links, ensembles of crude cues • Mutations • Plasticity • Produces diverse, niche solutions • Robust response for unforeseen global changes • Stabilizes dynamic systems • Friction in mechanical systems • Trading costs, varied beliefs in stock markets

9. Ambivalent attitudes • Can be threatening • Error, noise, turbulence, chaos, illness • Hierarchies formed to control, eliminate them • Essential to playfulness • Games • Humour • Critical to communication

10. How old are you? • An incomplete question • To nearest year culturally implicit • Uncertain answer enabled a quick response • Decoupled most contexts • Short coding of question and answer • Probably a maximum • Value/effort • Value/time • Other extreme: Descartes

11. Which attitude fits you? • Ready, fire, aim! • Ready, aim, fire! • Ready, aim, don’t fire… unless certain of bulls eye! • You made me miss! • Choice determines • Time to respond to a stimulus (sense of urgency) • Probable accuracy of response • Number of stimuli responded to • Rate and nature of learning/change • Which choice fits evolution? Brains?

12. Attitudes of decision makers

13. Companies are organisms • Life Cycles • Embryos (startups) • Growth and specialization • Maturity • Senility and death • Metabolic requirements • Profits measure input/output efficiencies • Can reproduce • (sexual, asexual, cloning) • Living community (flesh and structure) • People (employees, customers, investors, etc.) • Methods (maps, procedures, norms, policies) • Materials (money, equipment, facilities, products)

14. Companies exercise brain-like functions • Mildly intelligent • Learn, remember • Experiences • Simple to moderately complex algorithms • Store in locally meaningful maps • Layers of decision making elements • Complexity, cycle times, number of similar decisions per year • Differing cue sets

15. Theoretically hierarchical

16. Typical Organization Chart

17. Bottlenecks in hierarchies In hierarchies the decision making bottleneck is always at the top

18. Actually Stratified

19. Time scales of decisions for strata Short term: decisions from experience, internal processing, predictable results Long term: observe competitors choices, uncertain results

20. Strategic CEO Functions • Select key executives • Sponsor them • Lead executive team • Maintain cohesive/timely strategic vision • Maintain flexibility in changing market • Set tone, spirit by example • Resolve intrinsic strategic conflicts • Select, lead key stakeholders • Board (Results of efforts affect “health” 2-3 yrs later)

21. Distribution of decision making attitudes • Young, small companies • Adventurer at top • Craftspeople dominate lower strata • Quickly adapt to market • Old, large companies • Craftsperson or Bureaucrat at top • Bureaucrats dominate middle management • Hierarchical processes • Expect market to adapt to them

22. Dorsal view of company Anterior Posterior

23. Learning and Memory • Local maps specialized by function • Working memory: people • Short term: notes, redlines • Long term: formal documents, data bases • Some long term information received from other areas within company converted to local maps

24. Thermal maps Launch new design project Launch new product

25. Marketing Funnel: extracting customers from environment

26. Computers: artifacts of Reason • Artifacts of 19th century belief in a clockwork universe • Rigid hierarchical control • Synchronous • Centralized decision making • Deterministic

27. Characteristics • Finite states • Deterministic, pig-headed • make mistakes, but never learn • Fast, ~109 ops/s • ~2 x106 ops during an action potential • Extremely complex algorithms • Fragile, tolerates • <10-17 bit errors/ s • No connection errors

28. Computer’s hierarchical Architecture

29. Architecture • CPU rich in logic, only element capable of reading maps, implementing algorithms • CPU controls all timing and relationships…the ultimate micro-manager • Memory stores patterns that have no intrinsic meaning. • Only meaningful to CPU provided it keeps track of storage locations relative to program • String of patterns, one degree of associative freedom • Bottleneck is in transporting codes in and out of the CPU (von Neumann Bottleneck) • Thermal maps don’t change for novel or familiar tasks

30. Some conclusions • Companies have some useful correlations to Brains • extract and process the familiar • ignore or adapt to the unfamiliar • selectively learn • stratified, stochastic • bi-directional influences • time scales and complexities • Computers don’t correlate with brains…but do correlate with some rational beliefs • process the specified • ignore or crash from the unspecified - neverlearn • deterministic hierarchy • bottom-up data • top-down control

31. Conclusion • A major difference between biological systems and computers is the role of uncertainty.

32. Thanks • To Susumu Tonegawa and Bob Silvey for the opportunity to be here • To Matt Wilson and Morgan Sheng for helpful feedback • To Jeffrey Goodman for his repeated help and some great laughs.

33. For more information • To download copies of this presentation and related management essays go to:www.elew.com