How do you describe a complicated system? Let’s start with a few examples we might come across:
- Relationships: “Our relationship has complicated moments. However, with communication and understanding, we always pull through.”
- Technology: “Setting up the new software is a bit complicated at first. However, by following the guide step by step, you’ll master it.”
- Cooking: “The soufflé recipe has many steps, making it seem complicated. But with patience and precision, the final dish is amazing.”
- Music: “That sonata is complicated and hard to learn because of its tempo and finger placements. But with practice, it gets easier.”
- Travel: “Planning a multi-city European tour can be complicated. You have to handle different languages, cultures, and modes of transport. Yet, with a good plan, it’s a lifetime adventure.”
Characteristics of Complicated Systems
From these examples, we can identify some traits of a complicated system:
- It has many parts or steps, but not as many as a system like the US economy or the human body.
- The parts connect in ways we can predict.
- It might seem too much to handle at first, but if we work hard and systematically, we can manage it better.
- At first, it might be hard to get, but once we learn the basics, it becomes clearer
- There might be things we don’t know, but if we put in the effort, we can figure them out.
- It might seem unclear at the start, but with hard work and a systematic approach, we can understand it better.
- Something complicated is usually a result of human design. So, someone knows how to simplify it.
Comparing With Complexity
In What is Complexity, we discuss the relationship between “complicated” and “complexity”. Some people mix up the two. However, they are distinct. The table below clearly highlights the contrasts between them.
| Topic | Complicated System | Complex System |
| Causality | Because cause and effect relationships are linear, it is possible to identify the specific causes of the problems. | Because we deal with patterns resulting from multiple causes that interact with each other, it is not possible to identify direct cause and effect relationships. |
| Linearity | Each input on the system generates a proportional output. | There is no proportionality between inputs and outputs: small interventions can have unexpected and far-reaching consequences on the entire system, while major interventions may prove ineffective. |
| Reducibility | It is possible to decompose the system into all its elements and understand its functional relationships in a fragmented way, since each element has a clear function. | The elements of the system are multifunctional: the same function can be performed by different elements and different functions can be performed by a single element. As a rule, it is impossible to fully understand all interrelationships. |
| Controllability and Solvability | The interactions between the elements can be controlled and problems can be diagnosed and permanently solved. | Problems stem from emerging patterns resulting from dynamic interactions between multiple elements interconnected in a non-linear way. It is not possible to permanently solve problems: the only thing one can do is to continuously manage the system and learn to “dance with it”. |
| System Constraints | Closed system (or, at least, it is possible to delimit the system through constraints). | Open system. It is very difficult (and often impossible) to specify where the system ends and another begins, as well as to separate the system from its context. |
| Knowability | Because it is closed, it is possible to deconstruct the system in its parts to fully understand it, as well as devise models to understand its functioning. | It is not possible to fully understand the functioning of a complex system through observation, data collection or theories. The only valid model for understanding a complex system is the system itself. |
| Adaptability | Requires an external intervention for changes to take place. | The system can learn and adapt on its own without external interference. |
Handling Complicated Systems
We can break down a complicated system to understand its individual parts. For instance, a car is assembled from thousands of well understood parts. One can break down a car into various parts and study them. Complicated systems are usually designed by people. So, unless someone deliberately made it hard to understand, there’s a guide to help you. In the examples we gave earlier, you’d likely find some instructions to help newcomers.
A determined person can navigate a complicated situation or topic using different tools we have. This is our challenge in the next steps of the four-step framework.
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