Complexity, as a concept, has become extremely relevant in many areas, such as project management. To understand complexity in projects, it's necessary to investigate the definitions and perspectives from different angles.
1.1.1 Origins and Development of Complexity Theory
Complexity theory, the foundation of our understanding of complex systems, had its beginnings in chaos theory (Levy 1994; Murphy 1998; Thiétart and Forgues 1995; Thomas and Mengel 2008). Although complexity theory appeared as a set of ideas rooted in mathematics and the exact sciences, it has since expanded upon and moved into social sciences, management, and business (Curlee and Gordon 2011).
One of the most important contributors to complexity theory is Edward Lorenz, a meteorologist who was among the first to provide practical examples of chaos theory and introduced the term “butterfly effect.” In essence, he found that a situation that appears to be chaos or disorder has an established underlying order, although the connections between components may not be presented in an observable way (Lorenz 2001). This scenario applies directly to the field of project management, where it isn't always apparent, or obvious, what the interconnectivity really looks like.
1.1.2 Key Concepts in Complexity Theory
Complexity theory explains how objects in the ...
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