Complex versus complicated problems

An award-winning team of journalists, designers, and videographers who tell brand stories through Fast Company's distinctive lens Have you ever thought about why humankind has successfully traveled to the moon, but companies still have a hard time figuring out how to grow faster than the competition? That we can make interventions using nanotechnology, but struggle to turn around the performance of a business unit? Or that we can build robots that perform delicate surgical operations, but we still can’t find a way to provide good and cost-effective healthcare? Here’s the thing. Humans can master highly sophisticated technical and technological challenges because we’re very skilled at making linear connections from one technical feat to the next. But when it comes to multi-dimensional challenges, it’s a whole different ballgame. We can’t solve them with linear thinking or rely on technical prowess. Sometimes, they move and change at a rate faster than we can act. They don’t patiently aw

An award-winning team of journalists, designers, and videographers who tell brand stories through Fast Company's distinctive lens Have you ever thought about why humankind has successfully traveled to the moon, but companies still have a hard time figuring out how to grow faster than the competition? That we can make interventions using nanotechnology, but struggle to turn around the performance of a business unit? Or that we can build robots that perform delicate surgical operations, but we still can’t find a way to provide good and cost-effective healthcare? Here’s the thing. Humans can mast