an online book by David Gurteen
A complex system is a system composed of many components which may interact with each other. Examples of complex systems are Earth's global climate, organisms, the human brain, infrastructure such as power grid, transportation or communication systems, complex software and electronic systems, social and economic organizations (like cities), an ecosystem, a living cell, and, ultimately, for some authors, the entire universe.
Complex systems are systems whose behavior is intrinsically difficult to model due to the dependencies, competitions, relationships, or other types of interactions between their parts or between a given system and its environment. Systems that are "complex" have distinct properties that arise from these relationships, such as nonlinearity, emergence, spontaneous order, adaptation, and feedback loops, among others. Because such systems appear in a wide variety of fields, the commonalities among them have become the topic of their independent area of research. In many cases, it is useful to represent such a system as a network where the nodes represent the components and links to their interactions.
The term complex systems often refers to the study of complex systems, which is an approach to science that investigates how relationships between a system's parts give rise to its collective behaviors and how the system interacts and forms relationships with its environment. The study of complex systems regards collective, or system-wide, behaviors as the fundamental object of study; for this reason, complex systems can be understood as an alternative paradigm to reductionism, which attempts to explain systems in terms of their constituent parts and the individual interactions between them.
As an interdisciplinary domain, complex systems draws contributions from many different fields, such as the study of self-organization and critical phenomena from physics, that of spontaneous order from the social sciences, chaos from mathematics, adaptation from biology, and many others. Complex systems is therefore often used as a broad term encompassing a research approach to problems in many diverse disciplines, including statistical physics, information theory, nonlinear dynamics, anthropology, computer science, meteorology, sociology, economics, psychology, and biology.
Credit: Wikipedia - complex_systemMany people believe that complexity is just higher-order complicatedness i.e. that there is a continuum and that the difference is one of degree, not type. When one considers however how very different these states are from each other, I tend to agree with Dave Snowden when he says that there are in fact phase shifts … Continue reading Complex and Complicated Systems Are Fundamentally Different Sonja Blignaut
The idea of a “problem” in a complex or complex adaptive system is misleading, as it suggests the existence of a clear, identifiable issue that can be resolved independently. In reality, what we perceive as problems are often symptoms of deeper, systemic patterns and interactions. Credit: David Gurteen People: David GurteenDavid Gurteen Keynote speaker, writer … Continue reading There Are No Problems in Complex Systems David Gurteen
In a complex or complex adaptive system, the notion of “problem-solving” is an illusion. Instead of definitive solutions, there is only an endless series of adaptive responses. Credit: David Gurteen People: David GurteenDavid Gurteen Keynote speaker, writer and conversational facilitatorBooks: David GurteenLeading Issues in Social Knowledge Management by David Gurteen (2012)Quotations: David GurteenA Conversation Architect … Continue reading There Are No Solutions Only Responses in Complex Adaptive Systems David Gurteen
The world is fast-changing and increasingly more turbulent. The problems and challenges we face are both complex and adaptive and thus more resilient in the face of traditional approaches and ways of working. Posts that link to this post What Makes a Real Community? Members of a community care about each other A Slight Modification to VUCA … Continue reading Introduction: Complexity The world is fast-changing and increasingly more turbulent
A system is a set of interconnected, interacting, interrelated, or interdependent elements such as people, ideas or things that forms a whole and is coherently organized in a way that achieves something. Three main characteristics define a system: it comprises a set of elements these elements are interconnected with one another these elements are organized … Continue reading What Is a System? ** An interconnected set of elements organized in a way that achieves something
Belief systems shape our understanding of reality. They are interconnected networks of ideas, not always accurate representations of truth. Examining and evolving our beliefs, while challenging, is crucial for personal growth and social progress. A belief system is a network of beliefs that we each hold about what is, or should be, right and wrong … Continue reading Belief Systems Our beliefs are not isolated pieces of data that we can take and discard at will
With their rigid plans and fixed outcomes, traditional change management methods often struggle in today’s complex, unpredictable environments. Dave Snowden’s Vector Theory of Change offers a more adaptable solution by focusing on setting a broad direction (vector) rather than a specific goal. Introduction In our complex world, initiating successful change can be daunting. The traditional … Continue reading Navigating Change in a Complex World The Vector Theory of Change
The world is hyperconnected, fast-changing, and complex. It’s a VUCA world – increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. We live in a hyperconnected world that has led to increased complexity. The impact of complexity Increased complexity, in turn, has given rise to raised: Volatility is where things change rapidly and unpredictably, especially for the worse. … Continue reading Our World Is Complex It is a VUCA world
Complex systems defy simplistic problem-solving. Rather than definitive solutions, we can only respond to the intricate web of interconnected elements. In a complex environment, there are no solutions, only an endless series of adaptive responses. Complex systems are characterized by their nonlinear dynamics, emergent properties, and the presence of feedback loops. These characteristics make it … Continue reading There Are No Solutions to Complex Challenges Only an endless series of adaptive responses
