I met Ralph when I was doing my PhD using complexity theory and paradox in the early 1990's. He was generous in sharing his ideas about complexity theory and the difference between complex adaptive and complex responsive systems  He acted as external examiner for my viva. I have continued to follow his writings and thinking and know several people who graduated from the DMan when he was running the programme.  I remember him saying to me that when ever he talked about complexity 50% of people in the audience got it and 50% wondered what he was taking to come up with such mad ideas about business! In the early days it also meant he struggled to get his work published in journals. Yet here we are now, complexity in management is a topic whose time has come. We can see practical examples of the importance of his thinking writ large in our organisations, in  society and the global problems.  All the people whom he influenced now shoulder the responsibility for carrying his insights forward.