A pandemic of possibilities: The spread of potentiality-seeking organisations under conditions of the COVID-19 lockdown

The premise of this paper is that an adequate understanding of the impact the pandemic had upon society presupposes an adequate theory of society. This must include a theory of the various systems and organizations that compose society and that were impacted by the pandemic and are shaping its aftermath. This paper adopts and adapts Luhmann’s autopoietic systems theory to provide a ‘frame’ for understanding key societal reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent pathways opening up, especially for organizations. In Part 1 we introduce core elements of Luhmann’s systems theory. In Part 2 we illustrate how the Pandemic crisis has accelerated a transformation in the way organizations couple with other social systems. Two aspects of this change have significant implications for how time is managed and understood. First, as formal contracts give way to partnerships (promises of later promises) ever greater emphasis is placed on a ‘future future’. Second, this constitutes a shift towards ‘potentialising organizations’ characterised by what we call ‘operational coupling’ as distinct from ‘structural coupling’. We conclude by suggesting that potentiality-seeking organizations introduce a new paradox. They pursue opportunities stemming from learning to ‘expect the unexpected’, while still calling on function systems to stabilize expectations.