Over the course of the last six months, two big questions have surfaced in my work. The first is “Why are the simple things so complicated right now?”. The second is “Why does the future no longer seem so far away?”. I have reflected deeply on these two questions, I also have visited with others about them as well. Over time, I have gained some perspective and understanding that I want to share with you here today.
The first question, “Why are the simple things so complicated right now?”, reflects the feeling that life has become very complicated and complex, all at the same time. Before we go any further, we need to understand the difference between these two words, complicated and complex. For example, a car can be a complicated machine. Yet, an expert mechanic can take it a part and reassemble it without changing a thing. The car is static and the outcome is predictable. The whole is the sum of its parts. On the other hand, a Brazilian rainforest is complex. The rainforest is in constant flux and the weather patterns change routinely. Animal species change or can go extinct. Local agriculture can impact it, too. Therefore, the whole is far more than the sum of its parts, and most of what we understand about the rainforest, we understand in retrospect.
With the above in mind, most people visiting with me default to the word “complicated.” I recognize that they are not discerning a difference between complicated and complex. So, moving forward I will use the word “complicated” with the understanding that I think the first question reflects a convergence of both the complicated and complex.
Now, I think the basic answer to the first question, “Why are the simple things so complicated right now?”, is because things are no longer simple. While this may be a blinding flash of the obvious, referencing the past work of Tom Peters, I believe this is happening because all of the simple things have turned into adaptive challenges. Ron Heifetz, Alexander Grashow, and Marty Linsky in their book, The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization and the World (Harvard Business Press, 2009), define an adaptive challenge as a problem that requires a new perspective, expertise and solution, lest the organization decline. There are four characteristics to this kind of problem. First, defining the problem may require learning. Second, it calls into question fundamental assumptions and beliefs. Third, it can only be addressed through changes in people’s priorities, beliefs, habits, and loyalties. Fourth, it requires new ways of thinking. As a result of dealing with these adaptive challenges, I also believe that many, if not most, leaders are experiencing a high level of decision fatigue, i.e. they are exhausted by the number and magnitude of the decisions that are being brought before them, resulting in routine cognitive overload and a deteriorating level of decision-making.
Furthermore, when this happens week after week, our days shift into “blursday,” referencing a common term used during the pandemic lockdown. Thus, Monday is no different than a Friday, and Saturday or Sunday are not times of rest and renewal, just another day to be overwhelmed with everything that did not get done during the normal work week. In short, blursday becomes every day and as a result, all the simple things become complicated.
In the beginning, we must acknowledge that this is a painfully difficult way of living and working. No one wakes up hoping that their day is a blur and that their work life is a burden. No one what’s to be overwhelmed and burned out by life and work. No one wants to feel helpless and hopeless. No one wants to experience cognitive overload. Yet, it happens, and appears to be happening more often than we care to acknowledge at this time period.
The other element which is making the simple things so complicated is that digital accessibility is omnipresent. As a wise young person pointed out to me, this level of constant accessibility creates a shadow over all aspects of life and work. Therefore, one must constantly manage the volume of digital inputs and information at any given time. Furthermore, it often increases the scale of complexity and over shadows simplicity. Thus, people in leadership positions have to make a conscious effort to see through this digital shadow in order to find the simplicity within the complexity.
This wise young person also pointed out to me the importance of discerning the difference of between connectivity and connections. The former does always help make simple things less complicated, because it gives us too much information and too many options or rabbit holes to go and get lost in. The later, on the other hand, requires us to disconnect from the constant digital accessibility, and to experience what is happening now rather than to focus on controlling the now, or being distracted within the now.
With all of this in mind, the first step to making the simple things less complicated is to acknowledge that they have become complicated. This is not simple or easy to do. To accept what we are experiencing can create a feeling of vulnerability, which is not something that most people care to admit or experience.
Next, we need to work the adaptive problems before us rather than react to the adaptive problems before us. As part of working the problems, we need to understand that our default reaction to when simple things have become complicated is to respond by separating all the simple things into smaller, more manageable problems. Then, we try and come up with various small solutions. However, I have witnessed on numerous occasions where this choice has resulted in leaders trying to control everything and everyone around them. This rarely results in new or creative solutions, or a general sense of ownership and commitment to work on the adaptive problem or problems.
While this approach of divide and control may feel productive, it is not a viable solution, because it does not create a structure for an adaptive problem solving process. Instead, we need to step back from our reactive default feelings and choices, and focus on unifying all the elements so we can understand how they are interacting with each other. This means we need to slow down rather than speed up our problem solving so we can better understand and work with the adaptive challenges. Then, we can create the right structure for problem solving, i.e. time frames, decision rules, clear role assignments, etc.
This also means we need to ask ourselves two important questions as part of the creation of a problem solving structure. First, whose owns these adaptive challenges? Second, who owns the decision rights to solving these adaptive challenges? Too often, we assume that the problem is ours alone to solve and that we have the power to make all of the decisions around a particular problem. However, this is often not the case. Instead, we need to create ownership of the adaptive problems that is larger than just us. Then, we need to engage in a group problem solving process rather than a singular, individual, positional problem solving process. Still, we need to remember that all of this work is going to require us to reset our default choices, and to generate an on-going evolution in our own consciousness or mindset. In short, in order to make the simple things less complicated, leadership needs to become a verb more than a noun, a process more than a conclusion, an experience more than a dogma, a relationship more than just an outcome.
I agree that the simple things have become more complicated, and that those simple things are mostly adaptive challenges which are causing us to experience cognitive overload and decision fatigue. However, I do not believe it is a terminal situation with no hope in sight. Instead, I see it as a signal that we need to do our own personal work so that we are no longer, unconsciously defaulting to unhealthy patterns of problem solving and overall leadership.
And this leads me to the second big question, namely “Why does the future no longer seem so far away?”. Upon reflection, I believe this is happening in part because of the conditions surrounding the first question. I also believe it is happening right now, because the pace of change has accelerated to the point that we are just running to keep up with it. There is a term that explains what we are experiencing right now, and it is called The Red Queen Principle, namely we are running faster and faster just to stay in the same place. This is happening in part because of the pace of change and the expectation that we can solve adaptive problems at the speed of software, i.e. connectivity, rather than at the speed of people, i.e. the health of our relationships and connections.
Now in the beginning when the future feels like it is not longer far away, we, as leaders, must understand that it is normal for leaders to bear the weight of ambiguity and inconsistencies. It is normal that we feel the eternal brokenness within certain systems. While we wish the organization and the teams within it could achieve a state of certitude and order in all things, we would only be kidding ourselves if we thought this was possible on a regular basis. Still, we need to learn, and often relearn, how to trust the process of change. In particular, we need to learn how to trust ourselves and all those involved in the midst of change. And, we need to relearn how to let the change process unfold, to let it happen in it’s own way, time, and pace.
As part of this learning and relearning journey, we must not confuse knowledge with understanding. We also must not confuse knowledge with a transformation of consciousness. And finally, we must not confuse knowledge with the inner experience of clarity and belonging. All of this is deep internal work that rarely, if ever, happens over night. As part of this level of work, we must remember the insight that Father Richard Rohr shared, namely that “transformed people transform people.” Thus, we must be open to being transformed, not merely to change our mind, but to transform our entire definition of being a leader. This choice is critical to not getting caught in a default mindset that perpetuates dysfunctional patterns of thinking and working. Instead, it creates the capacity to ask important questions and to gain a better and more holistic perspective. It also allows us to let issues and problems ripen until there is adequate urgency to deal with them in a productive and collective manner.
In the beginning, as always, the first person that needs to change is us, not someone else. We need to role model the mindset and consciousness we wish to see. We also need to role model the values of integrity and respect, compassion and understanding, clarity and commitment. When we proactively do this and consciously do this on an on-going basis, we send an important and powerful message about how to deal with these two important questions.
As the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu wrote in the the sixth century BC, “Watch your thoughts, they become words; watch your words, they become actions; watch your actions, they become habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.” And in the end, this ancient piece of wisdom may be the critical framework to answering both of these important questions. For if we want to make the simple things less complicated, and if we want the future to be in the future and not impinging on the current moment, then we must have the courage to watch our thoughts, our words, and our actions. For they are directly connected to our destiny.
© Geery Howe 2025
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