“System complexity is an ever-increasing challenge for leaders… I feel like the level of overwhelm being experienced by leaders is increasing.”
This powerful quote from Leading in Complexity: An Initial Enquiry in Tasmania expresses something many leaders are feeling but perhaps struggling to articulate: the creeping weight of complexity, and the emotional toll it’s starting to take.
But before we can understand what it means to be overwhelmed by complexity, we need to be clear on something important: what do we actually mean by complexity?
Complexity vs Difficulty: Not the Same Thing
In leadership conversations, the term complexity is sometimes used so loosely that it starts to lose meaning. Many difficult leadership challenges are labelled as complex. But not all difficult problems are truly complex.
Here’s an example.
- Task 1: Memorise a string of 10 unique numbers
- Task 2: Memorise a string of 110 unique numbers
Task 2 is clearly more difficult. It requires more time, effort, and cognitive resources. But it isn’t necessarily more complex 1. Both tasks draw on similar cognitive processes: short-term memory, encoding, recall, and repetition.
Complexity, in contrast, typically involves emergent properties i.e., new and sometimes unpredictable behaviours that arise from the interconnections between systems’ parts It is these unpredictable behaviours that sometimes catch leaders off guard.
Why does this distinction matter? Because complex and difficult challenges may require different leadership approaches. Unless we can distinguish the two, we risk reaching for approaches that may not be fit-for-purpose.
What Is Complexity?
Complexity science recognises multiple types of complexity, each with its own definition and applicable in different contexts. For example:
- Classical Information Complexity: The amount of unique information required to solve a task (Shannon & Weaver, 1949). For example, flipping one coin yields 1 bit of information; flipping two coins yields 2 bits. This form of complexity is useful in information-processing contexts.
- Hierarchical Complexity: Defined by the number of iterative concatenations performed on a basic set of elements (Commons & Pekker, 2004; Commons et al., 2024). In simpler terms, this refers to increasingly abstract and inclusive types of reasoning. Research has shown correlations with leadership outcomes in small samples (see Thornton, 2023).
- Network Density Complexity: The ratio of actual to possible connections in a system. Network density complexity has been shown to predict distribution of information, team cohesion, and team performance (Wise, 2014)
- Fractal Dimension Complexity: A mathematical form of complexity referring to the resolution at which complex systems are analysed. Oversimplification can occur when complexity is viewed through too coarse a lens (Mandlebrot, 1983).
- Systemic Complexity: A more general definition of systemic complexity that refers to the unpredictable behaviour of systems caused by interconnectivity between parts, between systems, and between systems and their environments (Marion & Uhl-Bien, 2001). This form has been especially useful in understanding dynamic events like the COVID-19 pandemic (Uhl-Bien, 2021).
Each type of complexity may have different applications. Some relate more to cognitive systems, some to social ones, and some to leadership and organisational behaviour. However, it is worthy of note that the types of complexity that are most strongly related to leadership remain, as yet, unknown.
For practical purposes, we might think of complexity in everyday leadership as:
The unpredictable behaviour exhibited by social systems (e.g., organisations) due to interconnections between people, processes, customers, structures, culture, governance, technology, etc.
Complexity and Overwhelm: What’s the Connection?
The quote above links complexity to feelings of overwhelm. But how are the two related?
It’s tempting to draw a straight line between the two i.e., more complexity = more overwhelm. But, true to the nature of complexity itself, the relationship is likely more nuanced. Here are some possible relationships worth reflecting on:
- Possibility 1: Perhaps difficulty rather than complexity that drives the sense of overwhelm.
- Possibility 2: Perhaps overwhelm skews our perception, making simple problems appear more complex than they are.
- Possibility 3: Perhaps overwhelm drives ineffective leadership responses that contribute to systemic complexity
- Possibility 4: Perhaps reasons unrelated to complexity (e.g., limited self-regulation skills) drive overwhelm which renders leaders ineffective at navigating complexity
- Possibility 5: Perhaps some leaders are skilled at navigating systemic complexity but feel overwhelmed by the limitations or inaction of their peers.
There’s no single answer. However, the Complexity Leadership Skills Framework outlined in Leading in Complexity 2024: An Initial Enquiry in Tasmania may offer practical strategies to both navigate complexity and reduce feelings of overwhelm (see Image 1 and Table 1 in my latest white paper.
A Reflection For Leaders
Let’s bring this back to your context. Take a few moments to reflect on the following, either alone or with a trusted peer:
- When have I experienced genuine systemic complexity? What made it complex?
- When have I felt overwhelmed? What was driving that feeling?
- What does my experience suggest about the relationship between the two?
- In relation to the Complexity Leadership Skills, which 1–2 skills do my peers most need to develop to navigate complexity more effectively?
- Which 1–2 skills do I need to work on?
Overwhelm may be a signal, not a failure. A call to pause, to reframe, and to adapt.
Footnote
- Some complexity aficionados might argue that Task 2 does, in fact, reflect greater classical information complexity due to the greater number of unique elements (Shannon & Weaver, 1949). They may be right, but that’s a hair we can split some other time …
At The Menzies Leadership Foundation, we understand that the weight leaders carry today is not simply a burden of tasks — it is the pressure of navigating interwoven, unpredictable systems. Overwhelm is no longer a fleeting sensation; it is a signal.
We are committed to equipping leaders not just to endure complexity, but to engage with it intelligently — with clarity, curiosity, and resilience. Because leadership in the 21st century demands more than decisiveness; it demands the capacity to hold paradox, to lead through ambiguity, and to make meaning when the path is not yet clear.
In a world defined by complexity, we invite you to lead differently.
