1.5.6 Desire To Keep It Simple
Complexity theory tells us that events in a complex world are highly interconnected and behave as a system with emergent properties, where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. In direct conflict with this notion of a complex world, many managers and decision makers ask for, indeed demand, simplicity even when it is not possible to avoid the inherent complexity. Further evidence of people’s desire to keep it simple is Meadows’ (1989) observation that many people faced with difficult problems look for ‘gold nuggets’—fix the one single thing that is wrong, and fix the problem. This is revisited in Section 1.10 and in Chapter 4.