Has Complexity Lost its Meaning and Utility?

The term “complexity” has undergone a significant transformation in recent years.

There was a time when labelling something as complex was often seen as an admission of a lack of expertise or understanding. It implied that the individual or organization uttering the word was not capable or intelligent enough to comprehend the subject matter or situation. Surely, if we knew our stuff, we could figure this out (went the thinking).

In the 1990s and early 2000s, we started seeing books published that introduced and translated the science of complex systems into language, it accessible to a broader audience. Getting to Maybe, Chaos, The Black Swan, Six Degrees, Apollo’s Arrow, and Complexity were some of the works that helped change the perception of the term. These publications popularized concepts such as complexity science, emergence, network effects, systems thinking, and systemic change, providing people with a language to describe and make sense of the intricacies they encountered in their work and personal lives.

New Language, New Opportunities