Is complexity bad?

Complexity is not necessarily negative. Having many business divisions enables the organisation to operate on a global scale. Complexity may be a part of a good businessman’s strategy. Similarly, to expand the market there could be highly significant benefits that far outweigh the costs.

Although industries may be complex due to a combination of numerous regulatory procedures like market conditions, and union structures, complexity may be framed in the sense of a particular organisation. There is no doubt that there is also value to be found in simplicity: observe the organisation that has a limited international footprint that breaks even.

The solution is not to make the company the easiest we can possibly make it, instead, it is to get rid of the uncertainty that makes it very hard to get things done and generate little value. Twisting the logic, if complexity can be used as an asset, then we can come up with methods to handle items that are complicated, such as the “Big data” that has become the latest buzz word in the business world.

How does a Situation become Complex?

Complex systems have been around for centuries and business life to include certain activities that are unexpected and even unpredictable. In the past, complexity was more prevalent within large structures such as cities, but is now expanding to influence almost everything we do and everything we build. A significant portion of the growth in disability is attributable to the digital transition of the past few years. Systems that used to be distinct are now interconnected and interdependent and are thus by definition more complex.

Nobel Prize winning economist Thomas Schelling demonstrated in “Micromotives and Macrobehavior” how even good intentions can go disastrously wrong. Less-known applications of Ghettos are segregation models in which even those who choose to live in mixed communities may give rise to extreme segregation.

It is the property of emergence that the goals and needs of the people shift as the situation unfolds. The competitive landscape is impacted by all these separate acts which redesign the competitive landscape in a way that is impossible to predict in a traditional hierarchical structure.

Organizations that are high in complexity appear to deliver less value. This is an important topic that cannot be overlooked by top executives. Embracing uncertainty and expecting that workers will learn how to handle it will waste energy and money. When people find it difficult to make decisions or do things, their morale suffers and they become depressed. 

To avoid unintended consequences, the top team must discuss the problems directly. If there is a pervasive degree of complexity, it might imply clarifying roles across the entire organisation. The level of and difficulty of the role a person takes on doesn’t always reflect the complexity of the mission. In certain people, there are some factors that make them better at dealing with uncertainty. But what capacities does a Manager need in order to successfully solve complexity?