Reflection - Learning to Live with Complexity
SPOTLIGHT ON MANAGING COMPLEX ORGANIZATIONS
Spotlight
PHOTOGRAPHY: HARLAN ERSKINE 7/29/11 2:41:59 PM
Gökçe Sargut is an assistant professor at Governors State University, in University Park, Illinois. His research focuses on strategy and structural change in creative industries.
Rita Gunther McGrath is a professor at Columbia Business School. She researches strategy and innovation in volatile environments.
68 Harvard Business Review September 2011
1271 Sep11 Sargut Layout;24.indd 68
HBR.ORG
ARTWORK Jen Stark, How to Become a Millionaire in 100 Days 2007, 1 million pieces of hand-cut paper, size varies (average: 3' x 3')
Learning To Live with Complexity
How to make sense of the unpredictable and the undefinable in today’s hyperconnected business world by Gökçe Sargut and Rita Gunther McGrath
September 2011 Harvard Business Review 69
1271 Sep11 Sargut Layout;24.indd 69
7/29/11 2:42:17 PM
SPOTLIGHT ON MANAGING COMPLEX ORGANIZATIONS
M
70 Harvard Business Review September 2011
1271 Sep11 Sargut Layout;24.indd 70
anaging a business today is fundamentally different than it was just 30 years ago. The most profound difference, we’ve come to believe, is the level of complexity people have to cope with. Complex systems have always existed, of course—and business life has always featured the unpredictable, the surprising, and the unexpected. But complexity has gone from something found mainly in large systems, such as cities, to something that affects almost everything we touch: the products we design, the jobs we do every day, and the organizations we oversee. Most of this increase has resulted from the information technology revolution of the past few decades. Systems that used to be separate are now interconnected and interdependent, which means that they are, by definition, more complex. Complex organizations are far more difficult to manage than merely complicated ones. It’s harder to predict what will happen, because complex
Spotlight
PHOTOGRAPHY: HARLAN ERSKINE 7/29/11 2:41:59 PM
Gökçe Sargut is an assistant professor at Governors State University, in University Park, Illinois. His research focuses on strategy and structural change in creative industries.
Rita Gunther McGrath is a professor at Columbia Business School. She researches strategy and innovation in volatile environments.
68 Harvard Business Review September 2011
1271 Sep11 Sargut Layout;24.indd 68
HBR.ORG
ARTWORK Jen Stark, How to Become a Millionaire in 100 Days 2007, 1 million pieces of hand-cut paper, size varies (average: 3' x 3')
Learning To Live with Complexity
How to make sense of the unpredictable and the undefinable in today’s hyperconnected business world by Gökçe Sargut and Rita Gunther McGrath
September 2011 Harvard Business Review 69
1271 Sep11 Sargut Layout;24.indd 69
7/29/11 2:42:17 PM
SPOTLIGHT ON MANAGING COMPLEX ORGANIZATIONS
M
70 Harvard Business Review September 2011
1271 Sep11 Sargut Layout;24.indd 70
anaging a business today is fundamentally different than it was just 30 years ago. The most profound difference, we’ve come to believe, is the level of complexity people have to cope with. Complex systems have always existed, of course—and business life has always featured the unpredictable, the surprising, and the unexpected. But complexity has gone from something found mainly in large systems, such as cities, to something that affects almost everything we touch: the products we design, the jobs we do every day, and the organizations we oversee. Most of this increase has resulted from the information technology revolution of the past few decades. Systems that used to be separate are now interconnected and interdependent, which means that they are, by definition, more complex. Complex organizations are far more difficult to manage than merely complicated ones. It’s harder to predict what will happen, because complex