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Are you experiencing the symptoms of complexity? Or: trying to build a road underwater
3 Min Read
Are you experiencing the symptoms of complexity?
Or: trying to build a road underwater…
Do any of these sound familiar?
| Work feels like running a marathon but staying in the same place |
| You know things need to change, but there’s no time or space to practise different ways of thinking |
| You never seem to have the right tools or roles for the job at hand |
| You’re being asked to deliver specific outcomes, but you know you don’t have that type of control over people’s lives |
| Work seems full of unsolvable problems |
If those ring true, it’s highly likely you’re experiencing a case of complexity.
Why is it important to recognise this? So that we can pick the right tools for the job. The story being told around us every day is that change is linear (input - process - output) and attributable. We use projects, programmes, control methods, exception reports, and evaluation. These can be really helpful if you need an output, like a new member of staff or a building, but they do not work in complexity. So if you are trying to create specific outcomes like health, or wealth, or stronger communities, you will most likely keep failing no matter how hard you try.
It’s like you’ve been trying to build a road that will get you to the future, but you’re not getting anywhere. At the start you think you just have the wrong tools for the job: plans, permissions, engineers, diggers and way markers. Then you look around and realise you’re actually underwater. No wonder your tools weren’t working! No wonder you can’t build a road. What if you could put your tools down and look closely at the water around you? How would you choose to move forwards? Who and what do you need alongside you? Once you know you are swimming in the ocean, you can choose a different approach entirely.
So when we are approaching social change in any sphere, be it inequality, injustice, racism, human rights or climate change, it is useful to name this as complexity. Complex problems are different from complicated ones. There is no direct cause and effect. Instead we need to hold different truths, or ‘polarities’, alongside each other in equilibrium and navigate between them.
When we do this, we can start to put both/and thinking into action: the work we’ve been doing is valuable and necessary AND it needs to change. Once we identify the challenges we are facing as multi-faceted, interwoven, non-attributable, non-biddable, systemic, we can choose the right tools, and stop digging holes that keep filling with water. And if you feel like you’re now at sea in an inflatable flamingo don’t worry - the tools are reassuringly human.
