quantmleap

David G. Wilson brings a quote from Consultant-News.com, suggesting that “more and more people seem to be coming to a realisation that it’s not so much that their problems are complex, but that their problem is complexity“.

I have had a number of goes at the issue of complexity in previous posts and I have to admit that over time my view of what complexity is and why it exists, has changed somewhat.

Let’s see if I can explain it in writing:

From a critical analysis perspective the interesting thing about ‘complexity’ is that in essence, in reality, it does not really exist. It is rather a virtual perception, subjectively created by some observers but not by others. I often hear people commenting how ‘in the past the world used to be simpler’. If you contrast the changing reality in the world over the past 500 years or so it is not difficult to see that what some call ‘increased complexity’ is really increased level of interaction, increased lines of communication, many more interfaces etc. Take for example the modern TV remote control. Today’s TV remote control can still perform the simple task of switching the TV on and off. It can also change channels and control the volume. It can also perform some tasks that were not available in the past. For insance you can now freeze the screen, view what’s on in other channels, insert sub-titles, etc.

So it is not that the world has become more complex, it is us who have changed as we now want to manage far many more interactions than our evolutionary capability is allowing us to do comfortably. And this is where Darwin’s theory kicks in. Those of us who feel more comfortable in managing the increased load will do better than those for whom this increased load is a point of increased pressure, tension and distress.

With the above in mind it is clear that reducing complexity will not be possible unless we change our nature and adopt a less competitive nature. Naturally, this is unlikely to happen and so we can expect complexity to further increase.

Think about it!

Related posts:

1. Complexity of IT Systems Will Be Our Undoing
2. Complexity Facts
3. Musings About Complexity
4. Controlling Complexity – A Case Study
5. Quote of The Day – Dr. Donald Ferguson – On complexity