The document discusses how organizations are dealing with increasing complexity in the modern world. It notes that the environment has become more volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. To address this, organizations need to set minimal management structures, design learning organizations that can improvise, build expertise and real-time communication systems, and distribute leadership throughout the organization. This allows companies to continuously adapt, learn quickly and seize new opportunities in times of complexity and change.

1. Dealing with
Complexity
at Work

2. • The complexity and change
of our world and work is
increasing.
• We are constantly having
to organize information
available to us, and
determine how to best use
that information to make
choices.
Dealing with Complexity at Work
Introduction

3. • This trend in the world was
already predicted by army
instructors at West Point in
the late 80's, where they
taught their future leaders that
the environment would be
VUCCA:
– Volatile,
– Uncertain,
– Chaotic,
– Complex and
– Ambiguous.
Dealing with Complexity at Work
Important

4. Diversity
We need to learn to respond to an
ever-increasing variety of often-conflicting
demands from multiple sources: investors,
clients, suppliers, the government, etc.
Dealing with Complexity at Work
The four main forces of complexity
Interdependence
Globalization’s deep web of connections has
resulted in a small business world with fast
worldwide consequences (Dominos Effect).

5. Ambiguity
An overload of information makes it hard for
us to have clear insights and to decide when
facing our professional challenges.
Dealing with Complexity at Work
The four main forces of complexity
Flux
It is difficult to deal with our business
environment since its features and
circumstances that are taken for granted today
may become irrelevant tomorrow, often with
no advance warning.

6. • And when dealing with
this complexity we need
to develop a strategy that
can be implemented into
our:
– Organization,
– Team and
– Leadership.
Dealing with Complexity at Work
Developing a strategy

7. 01. Setting minimal management structures
It is important to set minimal management structures in
our department to allow fast decisions and changes
when facing new and unexpected business obstacles
and challenges.
Dealing with Complexity at Work
Main strategies
02. Design a learning organization that can
improvise
Creativity and adaptability are required to face our new
business world and our company needs to have such
capacity to learn and improvise.

8. 03. Build expertise and real-time
communication
A company needs to build a team of business experts to
improve its performance. And a real-time
communication system is essential to allow them to
share information and new business approaches.
Dealing with Complexity at Work
Main strategies
04. Distribute leadership
Leadership in this context, regardless of role, needs to
act as an enabler of spontaneous action.
A company needs to allow its employees to take part as
a leader when the situation requires and no one is
around to make a decision.

9. • For businesses to succeed in times of chaos and complexity, a
company needs to reinvent itself completely.
• It’s about building the capacity, in yourself, your people, and
the organization to adapt continuously and learn speedily, in
order to maximize the chances of seizing business
opportunities.
Dealing with Complexity at Work
Conclusion

10. • Gerard Seijts, Mary Crossan, and Niels Billou:
– Coping with complexity
– http://iveybusinessjournal.com/topics/leadership/coping-with-
complexity#.U54ox_ldVK2
• Michael Cardus
– Managing organizational complexity & change
– http://create-learning.com/article/manager-training/managing-organizational-
complexity-change
• Kathia C. Laszlo
– Dealing with complexity
– http://www.saybrook.edu/rethinkingcomplexity/posts/11-03-11/dealing-
complexity
• Linda Fisher Thornton
– Dealing with complexity in leadership
– http://leadingincontext.com/2013/02/27/dealing-with-complexity-in-leadership/
Dealing with Complexity at Work
Our main sources – Thank you

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Dealing with Complexity at Work
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