“Cracking Complexity — The Breakthrough Formula for Solving Almost Anything Fast” by David Benjamin and David Komlos (Nicholas Brealing Publishing, $29.95).Complexity (n.): the state of having many parts and being difficult to understand or find an answer to. In business, the “many parts” include the individuals and groups involved in trying to find an answer. […]
“Cracking Complexity — The Breakthrough Formula for Solving Almost Anything Fast” by David Benjamin and David Komlos (Nicholas Brealing Publishing, $29.95).
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Complexity (n.): the state of having many parts and being difficult to understand or find an answer to. In business, the “many parts” include the individuals and groups involved in trying to find an answer. Without focus, the larger the number of people involved creates a sizeable amount of interactions, which creates a Gordian Knot of perspectives, opinions and ideas. When processes and other stakeholders are woven in, analysis becomes difficult.
Like Alexander the Great, who cut through the Gordian Knot rather than trying to unravel it, the authors begin cutting by first separating the complicated (i.e. “Technical in nature, mechanistic, orderly, linear and completely predictable” paint by numbers) and complex (i.e. “Creative in nature, unscientific, messy, unstable and unpredictable” blank canvas.) The number of “unknowns” dictates the separation. The more there are, the greater the complexity.
Problem-solving always involves asking good questions. Questions about the complicated solve the challenge; those about the complex define the challenge. Example: “What do we want in a new customer relationship management system?” differs from “What can we do to enhance the customer experience?”
The complicated usually takes fewer people to solve problems because there’s some semblance of roadmap to follow. The complex, however, takes a larger group because the number of unknowns requires a broader perspective. To help shape special-purpose group selection for complex issues, the authors provide a fill-in-the-names “variety matrix” that involves cross-referencing experience and personality traits.
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Getting your trailblazers on the same page begins by ensuring they have the same baseline information from which to do their pre-read. The information should flow from the “good question” and cover what’s known about the business and the inside and outside stakeholders who could be affected. As the breaking-trail process unfolds, it’s important that teammates readily share all information that builds from the baseline into action plans. “Many-to-many” communication also establishes personal relationships needed to work through divergent views.
The authors weave the user-experiences of three organizations into the chapters.
