Reference #348: Thinking in Systems
Self-organising systems often generate hierarchy. Hierarchy is the arrangement of systems and the subsystems within them. For example, you are a subsystem of your family system, a family is a subsystem of a city, a city is a subsystem of a nation, and so on.
Sub-systems can, in large part, take care of themselves while serving the needs of the larger system. And the larger system coordinates and enhances the functioning of the subsystem. The result is a stable, resilient, and efficient structure.
Meadows. Thinking in Systems, 2008. (82)