#complexity

DE Guiding Principles: Complexity Concepts

Interpret development through a complexity lens, recognising that situations are often uncertain, emergent and dynamic, and evaluation is responsive to this reality.

  • It is not possible to understand the world around us by only examining its parts – we live as part of patterns of relationships in a synergistic way with all the different features of our situations.

  • History matters – the events of the past do influence the shape of our futures.

  • One size does not fit all and the way change happens is dependent on the features and patterns of relationships in local contexts.

  • Change is emergent, the future is uncertain.

  • Variation and diversity provides resilience in the face of change.

Questions to ask ourselves:

With innovation, there will always be uncertainty and turbulence:

  • How easy or difficult is it to stand quietly in inquiry when faced with a complex situation?

  • What possibilities inform our thinking that we didn’t know existed twelve months ago?

18.09.09 DE GP_ Complexity.png