@adrienne
Complicated vs. complex
Complicated systems: many parts, but fixed relationships.
With enough expertise, time, and instructions, you can understand it. Cause and effect are linear, though not obvious. The world of unknown knowns. A jet engine is complicated: many components, precise rules, predictable behavior when assembled correctly.
Complex systems: many interacting parts with changing relationships. Cause and effect are nonlinear, emergent, often only seen in hindsight. You can influence outcomes, but you cannot fully control or predict them. The world of unknown unknowns. A team, a market, or a culture is complex: people adapt, feedback loops exist, and the same action produces different results over time.
Heuristics:
“Complicated can be solved. Complex must be managed.”
In a complex system “acting in the system changes the system”
Complicated = difficult engineering problem; Complex = adaptive human problem
Hardware can be complicated, software complex. Which is why applying purely engineering tactics to software doesn’t always lead to predictable outcomes.
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