PDF Ebook It's Not Complicated: The Art and Science of Complexity in Business (Rotman-Utp Publishing)
PDF Ebook It's Not Complicated: The Art and Science of Complexity in Business (Rotman-Utp Publishing)
From guide, you will certainly realize that analysis is absolutely had to do. It will certainly direct you to obtain more valuable spending time. By checking out the books, your hung around will certainly not squander improperly. You can discover exactly what you need and want to observe. Below, the It's Not Complicated: The Art And Science Of Complexity In Business (Rotman-Utp Publishing) comes to be a selection to read the book since it gives you the outstanding attributes of the life. Also it is just the agent are for getting this sort of publication, you might see how you can appreciate the book specifically.
It's Not Complicated: The Art and Science of Complexity in Business (Rotman-Utp Publishing)
PDF Ebook It's Not Complicated: The Art and Science of Complexity in Business (Rotman-Utp Publishing)
Reviewing comes to be even more relevance and also importance in the life cultures. It has the tendency to be a lot more complex. Every element that undertakes the life will include reading. Reading can be checking out every little thing. In the means, market, library, book shop, internet sources, several will certainly reveal you benefits when analysis. Nonetheless, it's even more finished when book can be your much-loved term to read. We will share It's Not Complicated: The Art And Science Of Complexity In Business (Rotman-Utp Publishing) that can make you fall in love to check out.
After getting such information from us concerning this book what should you do? Once again, this is a suitable publication that is written particularly for you, the individual who loves reading a lot. You are the readers with large inquisitiveness as well as you will not quit of a publication. It's Not Complicated: The Art And Science Of Complexity In Business (Rotman-Utp Publishing) truly what you need now. You may not be odd with this title of the book, may not you? It is not the time that you will quit to complete. You can complete it whenever you want.
Book, will certainly not constantly relates to exactly what you should get. Bok could additionally be in some various styles. Religious beliefs, Sciences, socials, sports, politics, regulation, as well as countless book styles end up being the sources that sometimes you have to review all. Nevertheless, when you have had the reading habit and also find out more books as It's Not Complicated: The Art And Science Of Complexity In Business (Rotman-Utp Publishing), you can really feel better. Why? Due to the fact that, your opportunity to read is not only for the necessity in that time but additionally for continual tasks to always enhance and boost your brighter future as well as life quality.
In fact, we cannot require you to read. However, by inspiring you to read this It's Not Complicated: The Art And Science Of Complexity In Business (Rotman-Utp Publishing) it can assist you to understand something new in your life. It is not expensive, it's extremely affordable. Within that inexpensive rate, you can obtain many things from this publication. So, are you sill question with this boom will give you? Allow make change to earn much better your life and all life worldwide.
Review
"In his typically engaging, straightforward, nontechnical style, with clear and understandable examples and frameworks, Rick Nason here draws upon his vast academic and consulting experience to deliver indispensably compelling insights into the differences between simple, complicated, and complex processes and systems, enabling professionals to identify, understand, deal with, and exploit complexity in the business and investment realm. This is a book that should be used frequently by anyone seeking to successfully navigate the technological, social, economic, and political peripeteia of modern life." (David M. Darst, CFA, Former Chief Investment Strategist of Morgan Stanley Global Wealth Management)
Read more
About the Author
Rick Nason is an associate professor of finance in the Rowe School of Business at Dalhousie University.
Read more
Product details
Series: Rotman-Utp Publishing
Hardcover: 248 pages
Publisher: Rotman-UTP Publishing; 1 edition (May 11, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1442644877
ISBN-13: 978-1442644878
Product Dimensions:
6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
5.0 out of 5 stars
6 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#99,189 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
This is an important topic. I learned about this book from strategy blogger Theodore Kinni, who mentioned this book on his blog Reading Writing Management and in a longer article at INC.Complicated problems are big, but can be successfully broken down (e.g. how to build a reliable electric car). Once they are solved they stay solved. Nason and Kinni define "complex" problems as squirrelly ones that are full of paradoxes that don't resolve. Frankly, this topic is pretty well known under the heading of "WICKED PROBLEMS" and there are at least a half dozen books using that keyword as an entry point. So I would say that the basic difference between "complicated" and "complex aka wicked' problems is hardly brand new, but it is always nice to see a fresh treatment and fresh perspective on it. (This book by Nason does make a couple shout-outs to the older term wicked problems.) The most important thing - which Nason takes as his launch point - is to know WHETHER you are dealing with a complicated or a "complex" problem in the first place, without that, nothing.
This is a very clever book, looking at business problem solving from a very different perspective. It attempts to dispel the virtues of common formulaic approaches to dealing with issues by first clarifying that complicated things are not necessarily complex, and that what works for one does not necessarily work for the other. More than a how-to book, this is one of those books that causes one to take a step back and reframe the focus of attention on how things operate for the purpose of finding new, creative, and more appropriate approaches to business and management. A worthwhile read.
The new 'bible' of modern business.
This book may fundamentally change the way you think. Or it may give you a framework to understand why you intuitively know that conventional management practices are sometimes incongruent with reality.“This book is about systems thinking, and more specifically the important distinction between simple, complicated, and complex systems as applied to common business problems… The world of business is usually complex rather than complicated. That may seem like word play, but the difference between ‘complicated thinking’ and ‘complexity thinking’ is profound. This important distinction is well accepted in the scientific community but is virtually unknown in business.†Nason explains, “The ability to manage complexity is the key to competitive advantage.â€Simple systems can be easy like making coffee or difficult like teeing off in golf. Complicated systems have defined rules or procedures and replicable outcomes, such as accounting, manufacturing, or a mechanical watch.“Complex tasks cannot be completed by following a recipe or a set of instructions, or even an extensive list of rules and regulations… Complexity involves an unknown number of steps… Complex systems are neither predictable nor reproducible… With complexity there can be many different definitions or degrees of success.†Complex systems include outside sales, marketing, and R&D.“Complexity explicitly accounts for the interconnectedness of things and how that interconnectedness leads to fascinating characteristics such as adaptive behavior and leaderless emergence… The quality of being adaptive means that the actions of all the elements in a complex system affect one another, and in response each of the elements changes accordingly. Furthermore, change is continuous and ongoing.â€â€œThe most fundamental and important outcome of a complex system is a property called emergence. Emergence occurs when interconnected elements, such as a sector of consumers, or the actions of an industry, or even economic developments, evolve in ways that produce trends or patterns that look highly organized but in fact occur without any definable guiding hand… For instance, the ups and down of the stock market exhibit emergence. There appear to be up trends and down trends, but there is no mathematical model that can predict which way the market will go next.â€â€œAll of the players in a business setting—the company, its employees, the industry, its competitors, the customers, the regulators, the financial backers, the general public, and other players—are constantly adjusting their actions and opinions, based on the changes in actions, opinions, and perceptions of others. It is this never-ending and unpredictable dance that ultimately defines complexity. It is a phenomenon that scientists label emergence and that business calls competition.â€â€œUnexpected and weak connections often produce key turning points and create emergence… Because of the Butterfly Effect and feedback loops, the actions of a relatively few number of people [can become] a major movement.â€â€œWith greater globalization there is greater connectivity, which acts as a catalyst for complexity. Consumer trends and ideas that start in one part of the world are quickly communicated and copied across borders.â€â€œA complicated system can be dealt with in a reductionist way; that is, the pieces of a complicated system can be dealt with individually and separately. With complexity, because of connections, emergence, and serendipity, the system can only be understood and managed as a whole. It is not possible to reduce a complex system to its individual component parts.â€â€œComplex systems are nuanced and require a nuanced approach… Complexity is based on having very few simple heuristics†rather than rigid rules.“One of the key requirements in managing complexity is the need to continuously observe and react to patterns and trends rather than focus on a fixed target—to maintain a ‘manage, not solve’ complexity mindset… This implies managing spontaneously and in the moment, rather than relying on a pre-ordained plan. Constant and ongoing adjustments need to be made using a ‘try, learn, and adapt’ methodology that require experimentation, creativity, and a tolerance for failure and miscues rather than knowledge, obedience, and conformity.â€â€œUltimately, adapting means changing along with the environment rather than trying to get the environment to change.â€â€œCounterintuitively, organizations need to purposely introduce randomness into their operations for complexity success… Minimizing rules while introducing randomness means that at any given point in time there will be apparent inefficiencies in the system… Optimization… tries to minimize slack whenever possible, and, for certain complicated tasks such as keeping a factory functioning, this makes sense. However, for complex systems this approach prevents the system from learning and developing more efficient processes that are more suitable for emerging contexts.â€â€œManaging complexity is more of a mindset than it is a set of steps that can be learned… A complexity mindset is a creative mindset. It focuses on what can be, rather than what is.†Nason adds, “Complexity is a concept that may best be grasped through experience rather than taught.â€The author writes about the recent obsession with data and analytics. “It is tempting to do research and management where there are data. It gives the manager a feeling a feeling of doing something useful. However, managers need to be careful of falling into a trap of managing the measurable rather than managing the important… Often, particularly in cases of complexity, it is situations for which there are no or limited data that most need management’s attention.â€The book includes a chapter on strategic planning. “In complex situations, the questions that are asked are generally more useful and valuable than any answers that might be forthcoming.†Nason cites Peter Schwartz, author of The Art of the Long View. “For Schwartz… good scenarios involve making connections and visualizing how elements can evolve.†The author also cites management strategist Henry Mintzberg: “The most successful strategies are visions, not plans.â€There is also a chapter on risk management. “Audits and checklists are appropriate risk-management tools when the risk is simple or complicated in nature. However, with the inherent connectedness and globalization of business today, important risk issues are almost always complex. Risk management is by necessity an iterative and emergent process… Risk managers need to learn to recognize the emergent properties of risks. They need to expect phase shifts, paradigm shifts, ambiguity, and nonlinear behavior in the risks they are or will be faced with. Complex risks must be managed, not solved… To deal with complexity, risk management needs to take a holistic approach. Risk is not confined within separate independent boxes. Everything affects everything else, in often unpredictable ways.†The author also comments on counter-terrorism and the financial crisis in the context of complexity.“The more complex an issue is, the more valuable the role of the manager becomes… In the search for operational and cost efficiencies, tasks that are simple or complicated have gradually been eliminated or outsourced [or automated].â€â€œManagers need to learn to become diverse learners… and develop new skills and new ways of critically looking at the world. Random learning is a counterintuitive but key strategy to deploy. Examples of random learning include reading magazines far from one’s normal areas of interest, taking part in unique cultural or artistic events, and talking to professionals from vastly different areas of business.â€â€œWe are living in the era of specialization, where experts know increasingly more about an increasingly narrow field of knowledge… We need to revive the concept of the Renaissance person to cope with an increasingly connected world that is becoming more complex and less complicated. ‘Complexity’ is expansionist, while ‘complicated’ is reductionist. ‘Complexity’ is eclectic, while ‘complicated’ is didactic. The need for individuals whose knowledge and interests range across a variety of fields and disciplines is greater than ever. It is regrettable that the current prevailing educational paradigms seem to run counter to this.â€â€œComplexity abounds in business [but] most business functions also consist of components that are simple or complicated processes… Having an ability to deal with both complicated and complex tasks is the ideal for the business professional as well… You need to be creative as well as analytical.â€â€œComplicated thinking belongs in the world of ‘organized and tidy’ while complexity characterizes the imperfect untidy world, but also the world in which managers most often find themselves… It is essential first to determine what type of system you are faced with—complicated or complex—and then to learn to accept ‘maybe’ as a possible result in the presence of complexity.â€â€œShifting to a complexity mindset requires confidence in one’s ability and in the benefit of taking chances and accepting risk. It requires an intellect that can repeatedly switch back and forth between complicated thinking and complexity thinking.â€â€œIt is increasingly a company’s ability to recruit creative thinkers with a complexity mindset that will separate the strategic winners from the losers.â€Rick Nason is a finance professor who has a master degree in physics and a bachelor degree in chemistry and math. This unusual background enables him to cross-pollinate ideas from science to business. It’s Not Complicated is an important contribution to the field of management with many intelligent insights.Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book.
Rick provides "a new way to think about business problems and issues". This is explained throughout as understanding the difference between complicated and complex and embracing that difference. The complicated "can be separated and dealt with in a systematic and logical way" while the complex cannot be separated out..."there are no rules, algorithms". The difference is profound but we have muddled the two words together even using them interchangeably.The complicated can be codified with predictable and reproducible outcomes so success is well defined and often pre-ordained. Too many businesses and managers have become hooked on this construct because "Things that are complicated are well defined. They allow us to feel intelligent when we master them; they allow us to feel necessary; and perhaps most importantly, they allow us to feel that we are in control." We crave order, love the predictability of patterns, and get a rush from solving the complicated. That is much easier than addressing the complex with its nonlinear nature, randomness, loss of control, and richly interconnected and interdependent holistic make-up.This book is incredibly well-timed. I am assisting a company that actively addresses the complicated versus complex conundrum for businesses. Syntegrity's platform combines scientific methodologies and proprietary technologies to quickly solves the most complex challenges while clearing the way for execution. That last bit is important. Even when you solve the complex that does not mean you have the momentum or buy-in to implement. But I digress...back to Rick's book.He beautifully confronts "the false axioms of business" that trap us in existing formulas. This chapter is rife with insights that hold us back from becoming more comfortable with complexity. These axioms include "people are complicated", "problems are tractable", "planning is essential", "experts know something" and "brains win". That last one was highly compelling. He states, "The essence of this myth is that, with enough talent, brain power, and resources, business problems will be solved." Human history shows that that is not true.While this is a complex topic (all pun intended) Rick breaks it down and uses extremely helpful examples. His goal is not to intellectualize but to arm business leaders and managers with tools to take on real complexity. You will discover that this involves human nature so we all must embrace emergence, act with empathy, build connections and much more. This is almost a process of unlearning because we are patterned so much to linear complicated problem-solving not nonlinear, loss of control complexity or, as he puts it, "the traditional reductionist "command-and-control" complicated paradigm" versus a "complexity-thinking paradigm".The book will get you thinking and hopefully doing, that is, embracing and managing complexity. Lastly, once read, you will appreciate the book's title even more.
It's Not Complicated: The Art and Science of Complexity in Business (Rotman-Utp Publishing) PDF
It's Not Complicated: The Art and Science of Complexity in Business (Rotman-Utp Publishing) EPub
It's Not Complicated: The Art and Science of Complexity in Business (Rotman-Utp Publishing) Doc
It's Not Complicated: The Art and Science of Complexity in Business (Rotman-Utp Publishing) iBooks
It's Not Complicated: The Art and Science of Complexity in Business (Rotman-Utp Publishing) rtf
It's Not Complicated: The Art and Science of Complexity in Business (Rotman-Utp Publishing) Mobipocket
It's Not Complicated: The Art and Science of Complexity in Business (Rotman-Utp Publishing) Kindle