Creative Management of Complex Systems

Preface

“Everything is becoming more complicated; we must go ever faster!”

This rather common statement will certainly remind readers of similar ones they have heard in the media or during a conversation. There is undoubtedly a shred of truth in these popular expressions, but to rationally analyze their meaning, we must first distinguish complication from complexity. In fact, the state of being complicated is different from that of complexity – the first is a linear progression even when it does not look straightforward, whereas complexity is an emergent state – novel outcomes emerge over time that were not foreseeable beforehand.

This concept is most interesting to consider when managing organizations, as it requires distinctive planning, managing and operating techniques. Complexity is born of interactions between a multitude of actors that are possibly aware but often unaware of the fact that they belong to the same system, with the formation of feedback loops that render the system’s evolution largely unpredictable. Complex systems have very specific properties, particularly the nonlinear response to stimuli that must be taken into account by the managers who are in charge of regulating or steering them. Whereas an engineer can manage a complicated system (often by way of technology), it is an exaggeration to the claim that the administration of a complex organization is “managing” the system.

Our planet is a complex system, as is our body, the organizations that we create, ...