Complex problems have many interconnected elements
A complex problem is one that is composed of many elements, with numerous connections between them.
These connections may themselves be interdependent, creating a system where one small local decision can lead to lots of repercussions and chain effects in other seemingly unrelated areas. These interrelationships make it very hard to split up the overall problem situation into smaller chunks that could be dealt with more easily (as one does in conventional problem-solving): one can never be sure that in doing so you are not severing key relations.[1]
See also:
- Challenges are now open, complex, dynamic, and networked
- Open problems have unclear or permeable borders
- Dynamic problems add elements and shift connections over time
- Networked problems influence each other
Frame Innovation – Dorst (2015), ch. 1, § “Complex.” ↩︎