Complex Systems
topic on 5 shows · 5 statements across 5 episodes
BG2 Pod 
American Optimist 
the Knowledge Project 
Lenny's Podcast 
No Priors
5 statements about Complex Systems, every show
Laskin: Engineers spend 80% of their time comprehending complex systems
“When you look at what an engineer does in an organization, 80% of their time they're spending trying to comprehend complex systems and collaborating with teammates.”
Gurley: Macro forecasting is unreliable because complex systems have hidden shifting variables
“First, it's very hard to know which variables are dependent in a complex multi-variable system, and there may be one you don't know about that it flips, and the whole system takes on a different shape, and this makes these things very hard to predict, which is…”
Zhao: Complex systems thinking is crucial for building horizontal products
“This is really helpful. If we create product, at least a horizontal product, because you're trying to channel the energy, use smaller parts to create something that the sum is much larger than its parts.”
Coughlin: Direct interventions in complex systems cause resistance rather than lasting change
“So, the idea there is that in a complex system, you have to understand the patterns, and then if you want to make a change you don't intervene directly, because the system will push back. Instead, you make little nudges, shape the path, like, amp, create and a…”
Ferguson: Civilizations do not decline gradually; they collapse suddenly
“The real pattern in history is not rise to zenith and then gradual decline. It's quite different from that. A complex system can have a very rough patch, then it can stabilize, it can seem to be in equilibrium, And then it can fall apart very suddenly.”