In the context of managing complexity, “understand” implies a much deeper and more nuanced engagement than simply knowing facts or having a clear, linear solution. It’s about:
- Acknowledging and Embracing Ambiguity and Uncertainty:
- Recognizing that complex situations are often ambiguous, novel, and cannot be fully understood or solved in isolation.
- Accepting that your understanding will likely be partial, provisional, and that others will have different perspectives.
- Focusing on how to comprehend and act purposefully within the complexity implies not a single solution.
- Systemic Thinking vs. Systematic Thinking:
- Moving beyond a reductionist view of breaking down a problem into its individual parts (systematic thinking).
- Adopting a holistic or “systemic” approach that focuses on the interconnections, relationships, and emergent properties of the whole system. You can’t understand the whole by just understanding the parts; the interactions are key.
- Immersion and Sense-Making:
- Actively immersing yourself in the situation, rather than observing from a distance.
- Making sense of what is going on by gathering diverse perspectives, listening to those on the front lines, and co-constructing a picture of how things work. This involves open questions, observation, and putting aside preconceived notions.
- Iterative Learning and Experimentation:
- Recognizing that understanding in complex environments is an ongoing process, not a one-time event.
- Engaging in continuous action-research: trying things out, observing the impact, and adjusting based on emerging insights.
- Planning for feedback and studying failures as opportunities for learning, rather than assigning blame.
- Focus on Patterns and Relationships:
- Instead of looking for simple cause-and-effect, you have to identify patterns in data, behavior, and interactions.
- Understanding how different factors interdependently produce outcomes, recognizing that these factors and their relationships are dynamic and unpredictable.
- Recognizing Inherent Human Complexity:
- Understanding that human organizations are inherently complex due to the interplay of personalities, personal lives, and external factors.
- Accepting that you can’t control all elements or actors in a complex system, but rather influence them through relationships, trust, and shared purpose.
- Humility and Adaptability:
- Cultivating humility, accepting that complete understanding may never be achieved, and being open to new information and perspectives.
- Building flexibility and adaptability into systems and teams to respond to constant change and uncertainty.
The takeaway message
In essence, “understanding” in managing complexity is an active, iterative, and relational process of engaging with ambiguity, making sense of dynamic interconnections, and learning through continuous experimentation and adaptation. It’s about moving from a desire to control to a capacity to influence and navigate.