Complex systems are characterized by VUCA

Because of the “many-to-many” nature of complex systems (and Complex Networks), they exhibit emergent behavior that is unpredictable (though it is often dispositional). Consequently, complex systems are characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA).

Challenges like those faced by aid agencies and the myriad other organizations caught in what author and development consultant Ben Ramalingam dubs “the emergent, wayward swirl generated by social media” create questions about how we confront domains that were once predictable but are no longer. Practitioners wrestling with these questions use slightly different terminology from the optimistic “interconnected.” They use phrases like “discontinuity,” “disruption,” or the recently minted military acronym VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity).[1]

#complexity #systems

See also:

  1. Team of Teams – McChrystal, et al. (2015), ch. 3, § “Emmylou’s Wayward Swirl” ↩︎