Signalling Decision Making and Taking in a Complex World Simon Reay Atkinson 1 , Andrew Vakarau Levula 1 , Nicholas Caldwell 2 , Rolf Wigand 3 , Liaquat Hossain 4 1 Complex Civil Systems Research Group, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, 2 University Campus Suffolk, School of Business, Leadership and Enterprise, UK, IP4 1QJ, 3 School of Information Studies, Syracuse University, New York 13244-4100, 4 Information Management Division of Information and Technology Studies, The University of Hong Kong Abstract At its heart, decision-taking is about the decision-making process – how, who, what, where and when. In this ideal world, strategy is primarily about ‘observation’ and ‘orientation’, while ‘decision’ and ‘action’ are best left to tacticians and operatives. However in the ‘real’ world, strategists have to take account of all the factors impinging upon their strategic environment and no strategist can possibly operate in isolation – there is a social and network component to their knowledge, underpinned by the (social) strategic planning processes and the (personal) cognitive ones. As connectivity and the availability of information has increased, this has often impacted negatively upon the ability to take and to make effective decisions. This paper examines the basis of effective decision-making and decision-taking in complex systems and differentiates between the two. Keywords: weak and strong signals, decision making and taking, resistance. 1. Introduction How decisions are arrived at forms the basis of this paper [1]. In a complex adaptive system, one is continually testing the bounds for ‘failure and success’ – what works / does not work / may work. This has been termed as finessing [2-5], which may be seen as indicative of a system’s fitness [6, 7]. The finessing process is seen to be a key element of the selection process, from which choices are made and decisions taken. In this regard, one may consider ‘selection of the fittest [solution]’ which, may, as implied, be ‘red in tooth and claw’ – the fittest solutions ultimately pervades, where: ‘Fitness may be a function of a systems ability to test its environment; comprehend and verify what is known and unknown and infer; estimate and model its ecology [8]’. The fittest choice / selection is also temporally apposite in terms of the ‘three relatives’ (3Rs) of time, timing and tempo’ – it is the one available (in time); that