Machines and technology are but grains of sand…

…when viewed alongside Complex [Adaptive] Systems.

Thankfully many people are now showing an increasing interest in understanding just what complexity is all about.

Randomness and robustness are words that I have become familiar with and, increasingly, with the term…

Panarchy

New one on you? Don’t worry you are far from alone..

It’s a fuzzy old world!

I like this picture. It reminds me of Spirograph from when I was a kid. It’s pretty complex too but still nowhere near conveying the sheer complexity of a “typical” complex business system…even a relatively small one!

“Why not?” I hear you cry. Well, let me attempt to, briefly, explain.

Visualise each red dot as an activity or process undertaken within the business or, indeed, as a series of key participants in the company’s supply chain. Look at all the interconnections

Even when a business decision is pretty clear cut, from the assessment of the known facts – quantitative and qualitative – and the outcome is yes or no, that doesn’t tell us about how much, when, who, what else is affected by the decision or to what extent..

This can be (is in scientific circles!) described as fuzziness. Too many potential outcomes to even begin to calculate.