The Dimensions of Complexity

“Organisational complexity is associated with the intricate inter-relationships of individuals, of individuals with artefacts such as IT and with ideas, and with the effects of interactions within the organisation as well as between institutions within a social eco-system. complexity arises through connectivity and processes of feedback and emergence.”

Baccarini's classic analysis sets out why complexity is not a footnote to project management but a determinant of almost every management choice you make:

• It determines planning, coordination and control requirements.
• It hinders clear identification of goals and objectives.
• It drives the choice of project organisational form.
• It sets the expertise and experience requirements of the management team.
• It shapes the procurement arrangement you should select.
• It affects time, cost and quality directly — broadly, the higher the complexity, the greater the time and cost.

“complexity is the enemy in software; inherent complexity in software rises exponentially.”

“IS projects are intrinsically uncertain. The management complexity arises from the necessity to deal simultaneously with several tensions.”

• Innovation versus risk
• Learning versus control
• Organisational change to deliver benefit versus stakeholder resistance to that change
• Multiple stakeholder perceptions of the project's purpose
• Delivering value versus satisfying time, quality and cost targets
• Managing the detail and the big picture at once

Modern delivery has added its own tensions: cloud vendor roadmaps you do not control, SaaS release cycles that change the product underneath you, data protection and AI governance obligations, and legacy systems nobody fully understands any more.

“Technically complex projects are complex because of the human aspects and not the technical intricacies, which are just complicated.”