Thinking (in) complexity: (In) definitions and (mis)conceptions

Abstract

The rise of complexity sciences has led to the development of new language about systems. Concepts such as ‘complex systems thinking'; or ‘complexity thinking'; have appeared in the literature, appealing to ways of thinking (in) complexity. The notion of ‘complex thinking,'; may be considered as referring to a mode of thinking more congruent with the complexity of the world. The widespread and sometimes undifferentiated usage of these concepts results in a lack of clarity and terminological confusion, which jeopardizes their heuristic and pragmatic value. We identify literature using terms related to thinking (in) complexity and use a combination of computational and qualitative methods to extract definitions and analyse their usage. We map the relationships of the concepts and their usage across different intellectual communities. Our goal is to clarify these concepts and to strengthen their pragmatic value for the promotion and management of positive changes in complex systems.

Systems methodologies for handling problem complexity

“…Furthermore, different stakeholders do not necessarily share the same world view and can therefore have very different perceptions about what the problem is and what needs to be done about it. In these situations, people’s consciousness can be interpreted as an emergent property of continuous interactions between processes and constraints (Ulivi and Fisogni, 2020) and in that respect human activity systems can never be described in a single account, which will be either acceptable or sufficient to all. Taking the individual elements and the social context into consideration and focusing on the interplay between (individual) cognition and the social setting would therefore be crucial (Andersén and Andersén, 2014).…”

“…The global world of the 21st century therefore poses new challenges to leaders and requires efforts that acknowledge the high levels of complexity that exist, which make predictions virtually impossible (Surace, 2019;Cardoso, 2019). Many of the traditional scientific approaches to problem solving, which focus on breaking problems into discrete parts and implementing standardised solutions, do not seem to provide effective solutions (Augustsson et al, 2020) and new modes of thinking are therefore needed to help us manage change in positive ways (Teixeira de Melo, 2020).…”

Digital skills and complex thinking in engineering students of a particular university in Lima in times of pandemic

“…Por otro lado, en relación con el pensamiento complejo, Silva e Iturra (2019) manifestaron que en la última década se han incrementado diversos estudios acerca del pensamiento complejo y que son varios los autores que han propuesto la necesidad de promoverlo por medio del sistema educativo. De acuerdo con Teixeira et al (2019), la noción de pensamiento complejo puede considerarse como una referencia a un modo de pensar más congruente con la complejidad del mundo.…”

Combining complexity-framed research methods for social research

“…There have been some great successes in the application of these ideas and methods, however their use and value are not yet fully realised Castellani & Gerrits, Forthcoming). In some cases, early promise and excitement has waned where methods have been perceived as overly technical or formal (Byrne & Callaghan, 2013), where concepts and language have struck researchers, users, and participants as inaccessible and unhelpful, or where they have simply been confused and misused in the literature (Bruijn & Gerrits, 2018;Rosenhead et al, 2019;Teixeira de Melo et al, 2020). Nonetheless, there is an appetite for complexity in social research, and its use and application has recently increased (Andersson and Tornberg, 2018).…”