Do we ever halt when solving complex problems?: Looking beyond the interface horizon

摘要

Why is it that some problem solving tasks in organisations - though well posed in principle - turn out to be incredibly difficult or impossible to solve when taken on in practice? Why is it that after having followed an otherwise ordered and predictable path we often find ourselves suddenly on an increasingly turbulent stretch of road where we realise - to our horror - that our ability to intervene in the unfolding chaos is rather limited? Yes, complexity theory provides many important insights into the dynamics of complex organisational systems and - over the years - we have become familiar with terms like bifurcation points, strange attractors and phase transitions. However, given a concrete organisational or engineering problem, their use remains largely metaphorical. In fact, the complex dynamics is assumed to be given and no account is offered about its actual emergence. This paper, therefore, aims to serve as a kind of magnifying glass that helps us to study the emergence of complex behaviour in organisations. Also, it gives an account why complexity often out-steps us in many problem solving tasks.