1. Complex vs. Complicated Work
   • Simple tasks are easy and repeatable.
   • Complicated tasks are multi-step but solvable with expertise.
   • Complex challenges have no clear path, with many interacting elements and uncertainty.
2. Three Streams of Complexity
   • Competitive Complexity: Added by strategic choices (e.g., new markets, products).
   • Requisite Complexity: The minimum necessary to operate effectively.
   • Confounding Complexity: Unnecessary complexity that clogs systems.
3. Leaders Have Varying Capacity
   • Each leader has a unique ability to handle complexity, influenced by both innate traits and development over time (based on Elliott Jaques’ research).
4. Collective Leadership Capacity
   • Even strong leaders can underperform if their team lacks trust, commitment, or accountability—drawing on Lencioni’s model of cohesive teams.
5. Complexity Requires Appropriate Solutions
   • Oversimplifying complex challenges often leads to ineffective solutions. The goal is to make things as simple as possible—but no simpler.

Takeaways

• Assess Complexity Honestly: Ask whether a problem is truly complicated (solvable with expertise) or complex (requiring adaptive approaches).
• Identify and Remove Confounding Complexity: Audit unnecessary processes, traditions, or bureaucracy that add friction without value.
• Develop Leaders’ Capacity: Invest in coaching and experiences that expand individuals’ ability to handle greater complexity.
• Strengthen the Leadership Team: Focus on trust, healthy conflict, commitment, accountability, and results to amplify collective capacity.
• Align Strategy with Capacity: Before pursuing ambitious initiatives, evaluate whether the organization’s current capacity can realistically handle the added complexity.