Innovation on Complex Challenges
Diane Finegood, PhD
President and CEO, Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Professor, Simon Fraser University
Accelerating Change Toward Mental Health, Well-Being and Inclusion, Sept 24, 2015
Assumption: Your challenges look something like this
3
Not like this
A B C
Simple or Complicated Systems Complex Systems
Homogeneous Heterogeneous
Linear Nonlinear
Deterministic Stochastic
Static Dynamic
Independent Interdependent
No feedback Feedback
Not adaptive or self-organizing Adaptive and self organizing No connection between levels or subsystems
Emergence
Types of systems
Common responses to complex problems
• Retreat
• Despair
• Believe the problem is beyond hope
• Assign blame, figure out who is responsible
• Simple solutions
• Galvanize our collective efforts and invest significant resources
Solutions to Complex Problems
• Move from “attribution” to “adaptation”
• Support individuals / individuals matter
• Match capacity to complexity
• Set functional goals
• Distribute decision, action, & authority
• Separate simple and complex processes
• Establish networks and teams
• Build authentic trust
• Utilize the relationship between cooperation and competition
• Assess effectiveness
• Act locally, connect regionally and learn globally
• Move from “let it happen” or “make it happen” to help it happen
Adapted from Bar-Yam, Wheatley, Solomon & Flores, Riley, Greenhalgh
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Key Questions for Table Discussion
Think of a particularly wicked problem you are working on:
1. Which of the solutions to complex problems have you tried that worked/didn’t work and why?
2. Which solutions that you haven’t tried will you try to implement?
Matching Capacity and Complexity
Bar-Yam, Y. Complexity Rising, www.necsi.org
Complexity of Environment
Capacity of Individual
(or Organization)
Fail
Survive
Build Trust to Reduce Complexity Simple Trust
• Devoid of suspicion, demands no reflection, no conscious choice • Can’t be recovered if it is lost
Authentic Trust • Mature, articulated, carefully considered • Recognizes possibility of betrayal and disappointment • Must be continuously cultivated
Cordial Hypocrisy • Façade of goodwill and congeniality that hides distrust and
cynicism • Destructive to teamwork • Makes honest communication impossible
RC Solomon and F Flores. Building Trust in Business, Politics, Relationships and Life. Oxford University Press, 2001
Spread of Innovation in Service Organizations
Greenhalgh T. Et al. The Milbank Quarterly, Vol. 82, No. 4, 2004 (pp. 581–629)
Use Competition to Incent Cooperation
Bar-Yam, Y. COMPLEX SYSTEMS AND SPORTS: Complex Systems insights to building effective teams
Influencing Emergence • Emergence only happens through connections
• “Act locally, connect regionally, learn globally.”
M Wheatley and D Frieze ©2006, USING EMERGENCE TO TAKE SOCIAL INNOVATIONS TO SCALE
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Key Questions for Table Discussion
Think of a particularly wicked problem you are working on:
1. Which of the solutions to complex problems have you tried that worked/didn’t work and why?
2. Which solutions that you haven’t tried will you try to implement?
System Levels Ef
fect
iven
ess
Diff
icul
ty
Level Definition
Paradigm Deepest held beliefs
Goals What trying to achieve
Structure Information flows, connectivity, trust
Feedback & delays Self-regulation, reinforcement & adaptation
Structural elements Subsystems, actors, operating parameters
Finegood, DT. The Complex System Science of Obesity. In: The Social Science of Obesity, Ed. J Cawley. Oxford University Press, 2011
