I’m not convinced all complexity is bad. There are complex elements in our lives that enrich us. I’m reminded of the first few times I tasted Thai or Indian cuisine when my mouth was alive with a myriad of flavors coming from multiple directions. Just the curry alone consists of eleven different spices hand-tuned to the right mix of savory flavors when prepared by authentic cooks. Which is in contrast to the curry-in-a-spice-shaker I use. Or consider the complexity of some red wines or whiskeys. Many flavors emerge such as tobacco, leather, berries, or chocolate. In the case of these foods, we enjoy the complexity. Its like a crossword or other puzzle for our minds.
But the business word is rather different. Publicly businesses have a 90-day circadian rhythm of KPIs they are held to by their customers and Wall Street. There are efficiencies that must be realized in order to achieve certain objectives. However, as companies grow and introduce new products and services to the market new complexities arise. Per-product processes and supporting technologies are introduced which can bring along duplication and thus confusion within the organization. Couple this phenomenon with the realities of merger & acquisition (M&A) activity which also can introduce duplication into the enterprise. In the [death] march towards regulatory compliance, new customer acquisition, and frenzied product/service launches its easy to introduce some unneeded complexity and assert “we’ll go back and fix it later”. [Insert “head exploding” emoticon here]
This is the unneeded complexity in an organization and should be excised from organizations. Otherwise, it saps the innovative energy which could be devoted to driving its value propositions forward. It is possible that the introduction of unnecessary complexity creates a brittle and unresponsive core to the business. At this point budgets are simply consumed by “business as usual” operations coupled with minimal compliance measures. Forget about innovation in these environments.
I recall reading about “unnecessary complexity” in Frederick Brooks’ The Mythical Man Month. The qualifier “unnecessary” suggests there is some necessary complexity inherent to enterprises and other systems within our world. I believe Grady Booch touches on this topic in one of his works. Those charged with modeling and subsequently designing new capabilities within these organizations have a responsibility to recognize and manage this complexity while at the same time optimizing it by removing unnecessary elements. In some cases there are elements and combinations of elements which appear complex even when optimized. The designer then has a responsibility to convey and reflect this necessary complexity in a layered, intelligent manner. This allows different types of stakeholders to understand the complexity in incremental steps. This is in contrast to an approach where one creates an A0-sized depiction which only causes headaches and eyestrain for those of us older than 40.
I’m not convinced that all complexity is bad. Eliminating necessary and managing necessary complexity becomes the task of the business designer – or all individuals – within an enterprise.
What are your thoughts on this idea? Is all complexity bad? How do you manage complexity in your work? I invite you to share your thoughts in the comments.
