Complex problems:

• Face constantly evolving environments
• Are hard to define, and the desired outcomes equally hard to pin down
• Cannot be addressed by one single solution, but rather require an infinite mindset of constant improvement of multiple solutions over time
• Involve multiple stakeholders who might hold conflicting perspectives and values

Such challenges fall outside any one person’s or organisation’s ability to define, predict and control.

Improving access to social services, addressing recycling rates, encouraging take up of public transport, safeguarding heritage, are all examples of complex problems – or in fact, pretty much any area of government that requires the politics, the policies, the service delivery, citizens and communities to be aligned.

But complex systems are not limited to the ambit of governments; business models are evolving towards ecosystems, which require new alliances, strategies and leadership practices (see Thinkers50 report).

The key tension in solving complex problems is between forward momentum and space for emergence. People, in wanting fast answers, often default to the most obvious solution or tick-the-box mentality. This does not solve complex problems.

In complex problems there are different perspectives and conflicting goals and unseen causal relationships. Complex problem-solving hence require us to hold the space for discovery. The key tool of affecting systems change is not command and control, but rather influence.

But it is possible to make systematic progress, as long as we mind the system of decision-making.