1.1 Welcome to our complex world
1.1 Welcome to our complex world
Key points
- Complexity and complex situation arise when two or more distinct parts are joined in such a way that it is difficult to separate them.
- Situations of unexpected behavior (increases, decreases and fluctuations of a variable, unintended consequences, ineffective actions) are often the result of dynamic complexity.
- Complexity increases as the number, variety and interconnectedness of the elements increase.
- The nature of the variables (levels) and the relationships between them (non-linear, feedback) make complex situations difficult to analyze or understand.
1. Watch the video
2. Do the exercise
Chart how a key variable has changed over time. This exercise will help you practice identifying a complex situation from news items. it involves drawing how something has changed over time. This online news story describes a recent road security campaign on the Mediterranean island of Malta. Your task is to identify the key variable and draw how it has changed over a relevant time period.
Hint: you can follow the steps in the document entitled “Spotting complexity in the news” in the additional materials.
3. Study the lesson readings
Is it complex or complicated ? We often confuse the words “complex” and “complicated”. This short text explains the difference.
Spotting complexity in the news. This short text outlines the tell-tale signs of complex problems or situations in the news. It shows how to chart the changing, sometimes confusing behavior of a key variable over time.
Additional materials
- Exercise – example solution. This is a suggested worked solution for the additional exercise “Chart how a key variable has changed over time”.
- Bonus article : A Harvard Business Review article on living with complexity in business. An informative article by Gökçe Sargut and Rita McGrathon dealing with complexity in the business environment.
- Video sources and bibliography. The web sites, attributions and sources cited in the video “Welcome to our complex world”.
- The video transcript.