# Edge of Chaos and Hyper Productive Software Development Teams

DevFeed: [Edge of Chaos and Hyper Productive Software Development Teams](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/edge-of-chaos-and-hyper-productive-software-development-teams-30321.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://www.mdubakov.com/posts/edge-of-chaos-hyper-productive-teams/>)

Published: 2008-12-02T15:41:57Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Blog by Michael Dubakov](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/blog-by-michael-dubakov.md>)

Topics: [Development](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/development.md>), [Agile](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/agile.md>)

Tags: [adaptive](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/adaptive.md>), [agile](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/agile.md>), [chaos](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/chaos.md>), [development](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/development.md>), [productivity](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/productivity.md>), [scrum](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/scrum.md>), [software-development](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/software-development.md>), [teams](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/teams.md>)

## AI overview

This article applies the "edge of chaos" concept from complex adaptive systems to software development teams. It argues that teams may be most effective when they balance structure and flexibility: excessive process can impede creativity, while too little process can prevent useful work. The article connects this balance with the idea of hyper-productive teams and Agile practices.

## Source excerpt

Many researchers tend to think that CAS may work efficiently at the edge of chaos. A system with a very high order can't solve complex creative tasks, as well as a pure chaotic system. It seems the system should balance between chaos and order to survive and adapt. The "edge of chaos" term was emerged during self-reproductive cellular automata researches in 1990. It appeared that at a particular noise level the system can reproduce its state, while at a low noise levels states are random. This edge value was mathematically analyzed and it was shown that in such a state the system has a maximum of information. The "Edge of Chaos" term spread and applied to complex adaptive systems. For example, we may suggest that evolution drives systems to the edge of chaos, and it is one of the reasons of life origin. Life is a very interesting and complex thing in itself. Most likely it could not appear neither in order state and in chaos state. Life exists if there is a stable base, but with possibilities of changes. Edge of Chaos and Software Development How can we apply the edge of chaos concept to software development? Obviously, edge of chaos is a state where the development team works with maximum efficiency. Complex processes and explicit rules impede creativity. The team becomes too ordered to think :). On the other hand, no processes and no rules lead to chaos. The development team can't complete anything useful, and that is something we call hack & fix process. As a software development folks, we are particularly interested in two questions: How can we drive the team to the edge of chaos? How we will ensure that the team is at the edge of chaos? The human who knows the answers to these questions most certainly will be rich and famous. However I am not sure whether you can find such a man. It is obvious that edge of chaos = hyper productivity. This term often used in Scrum. However it is quite hard to define hyper productivity. Hyper-productive teams are hard to define.