The purpose of this article is to recommend a book, for the benefit of the reader (and their organisation) who may not have been aware of it, and hopefully for the collective benefit as well.
We generally have an intuitive, qualitative understanding of the adjective “complex”. We say something is complex to mean that it is difficult to understand, build, operate, analyse, etc. In some fields and scientific literature, a precise (mathematical) definition is given to the term “complexity” and the thing it refers to. In such settings, it is scientifically irrelevant to say that a thing is complex, what is required is a degree or a given of complexity with respect to the definition. But not everything that matters is necessarily formal.
Since we admit that we live in a world that is complex from many points of view, it is important to understand that the efforts that are made in our organisations (and in society more broadly) are influenced by “structures” that may be invisible to us, but that influence those efforts. The results of these efforts are also subject to such structures. Therefore, in order for organisations to carry out their activities and address their challenges effectively, they need to understand their environment or the structures mentioned above, an understanding that goes through some representations.
A theme of that book is that how we describe something influences whether we see it as complex or not; or more or less complex. The author presents what he considers to be some invariants of complexity and how these invariants can be taken into account when describing what a so-called “complex system”. In particular, you or your organisation will understand the meaning of “weak emergence” and “near decomposability”. These concepts are specifically addressed in the sections “7 Alternative Views of Complexity” and “8 The Architecture of Complexity: Hierarchic System”.
The book is: “The Sciences of the Artificial”, Third Edition, by Herbert A. Simon
In view of the above, what can Timeinx offer your business?
Timeinx would allow your organisation to reveal, in some way, parts of the aforementioned (hidden) structures. Indeed, Timeinx provides all stakeholders involved in those endeavours (projects, programmes or daily operations) with the ability to gain quick, clear and high-level visibility of all aspects of their endeavours throughout their lifecycle. This allows them to track and monitor the progress of their endaevours in a way that is comparable to how a radar tracks the position and velocity of objects without needing to know their internal details. Timeinx thus provides all stakeholders with a comprehensive, high-level view that fosters open communication, the valuation of contributions from all departments or domains, and genuine and trusted collaboration, which may ultimately result in timely alignments.
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