01.07.2019

Why complexity rules

Complexity dominates our world. This is the core of our brand message. Why did we choose this and what does it say about Movendo and our work?

The challenges we are confronted with every day in our working world are essentially differentiated between complicated and complex tasks. A task is complicated if it is influenced by a large number of factors that are clearly interdependent and develop in a predictable manner. These complicated structures can be identified and solved with knowledge, intelligence and experience. Benchmarks and best practices can be used and advice can be sought from experts. You can agree on the right solution, you can define rules and processes that lead to the right solution. This also means that these tasks are suitable for digitalization and the use of artificial intelligence, because computers can be programmed to apply rules. This also means that sooner or later, we as humans will be replaced by computers that do not make mistakes when following rules and processes and can calculate faster. We speak of complex challenges when many factors play a role, but their interdependencies are not clear and are constantly changing. New factors suddenly appear and significantly influence the task. The key finding of a complex challenge is that it is impossible to find a correct and always valid solution, that there is no best practice that can be copied. This also means that there are no rules and processes that enable error-free processing. And unfortunately, we have to say that complexity cannot be reduced or controlled. No “keep it simple”!

We have to accept that there is not ONE correct perception of a situation.

Rather, there are very decisive, different solutions for confronting and dealing with complexity.
One important insight is that we can never grasp complexity on our own. Each person only ever sees part of the complexity. We therefore need many perspectives, many people, to get a good picture of complexity. We call this “multi-brain thinking”. And we have to accept that there are these many perspectives, i.e. not one correct perception of the situation. Another important insight is that we need new methods to deal with complexity. Long-term planning with milestones, fixed goals, firmly defined roles and responsibilities makes no sense if you don’t know how the complexity and therefore the task will develop in the next step. It is more helpful to have a process that constantly puts complexity on the agenda, raises the task to the meta-level or into the helicopter perspective, so that changes in complexity are a constant topic and can therefore be consciously dealt with. And this also means that continuous learning from experience, reflection and dealing constructively with mistakes are essential. There is no right way. In contrast to clear rules, principles of work and decision-making must be defined in complex environments as guard rails between which there is room for maneuver. In this way, people and organizations remain flexible and can respond to the reality of complexity.

At Movendo, we see ourselves as experts in strengthening people and organizations in dealing with complexity, developing the described principles together and implementing the new approach. We make people and organizations agile.