Discovering Complexity

Complexity is increasingly understood as a characteristic of real world systems, not just a mathematical phenomenon, and real world systems are where managers and trainers operate. Most of our thinking, assessments, and analytic tools are rooted in a simpler view of the world that was perhaps sufficient in the past, but is increasingly dissatisfying. 

Over the past two decades or so, low cost computation and the tools and thinking about complexity in physical and biological systems have opened up new approaches to analysis that can inform managerial decisions. These allow us to take a new look at daunting problems and may lead to more robust solutions, fewer unintended consequences, and solutions acceptable to a wider variety of stakeholders.

“Learning-complexity” aims at providing managers with lenses through which they can notice and interpret phenomena which would otherwise not enter their radar screens, and not to transform them in complex system scientists. Therefore, a course on complexity for managers or trainers should focus upon some main topics, without requiring too much technicality (see the menu).

“Learning-complexity” lists in the menu a series of concepts which seem to me among the most important. They are not listed in order of importance, nor according to a particular didactic framework. Moreover, the list is not exhaustive, therefore it can be improved by adding further concepts. It should also be stressed that not all the concepts must necessarily be included in a specific course, depending upon the features of the course itself. However many of these concepts are interrelated, so care must be exercised in defining adequate and consistent subsets.

Moreover, it is also appropriate to distinguish both concepts and tools from “examples” ie specific classes of systems which may be very well suited to demonstrate how the notions of complexity apply to concrete cases. The same specific case may often be tackled under different viewpoints and with different tools, so it is better to illustrate the “cases” in a specific section.