Thursday, November 17, 2011

Embrace Complexity, Please!

by Dr. Harry Hertz, Director
Baldrige Performance Excellence Program

Just about a year ago, I wrote an Insights column entitled “Simplify Complexity, Please!” I addressed some of the ways the 2011 revisions to the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence can help organizations deal with complexity. I also stated that simplifying complexity is probably like the pursuit of the Holy Grail. I continue to be fascinated by the organizational challenges presented by the ever-more-complex environment in which U.S. organizations of every sector operate. And I continue to think about it. So I was particularly interested when the September 2011 issue of the Harvard Business Review (HBR) featured the topic of complexity. Reading that issue brought to my mind a classic article by Karl Weick on the Mann Gulch disaster, in which a crew of firemen suddenly had to deal with a fire that unexpectedly jumped the gulch and trapped them. A significant influence on complexity is the growing impact of social media on businesses (and other organizations), a topic that was featured in the September 26th issue of Forbes magazine (and also addressed by the 2011–2012 Baldrige Criteria). After rolling all those readings together with other random musings, I offer you 11 suggestions below for embracing complexity and living with the challenges and opportunities it presents.

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