Complexity
I’ve added the complexity page to provide a supporting perspective and context that is an integral and implied component of Quality Leadership.
I believe that a conscious awareness and understanding of variation will help accelerate understanding of what is referred to as Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) and application of this knowledge will lead to better results.
Leaders … must approach operational problems from a holistic systems perspective. … a system is defined as “a functionally related group of elements forming a complex whole.” The entire earth is a system, which like most systems is divisible into sub-components which are themselves systems. Each of these systems has a structure of independent parts that interact. Some of these parts interact with parts of other systems. It is the number of parts and the ways in which they interact that define the complexity of a given system. Reference: United States Army. Commander’s Appreciation and Campaign Design
An example of a CAS would be your daily commute to work or school. Your perspective — the individual commuter, all commuters, the urban planner, the Secretary of Transportation, would determine the level of complexity.
Problem Solving and Variation
Given the variation principle, a problem is never “solved” because variation is never eliminated. A “solved” problem represents an acceptable degree of variation; a “problem” represents an unacceptable degree of variation.
More Information
Complexity Science Primer, Zimmerman, Brenda, Plsek, Paul and Lindberg, Curt
Leadership and the New Science … Margaret J. Wheatley
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