Complex / Complicated Planning Tool

Use this tool to plan for different approaches when facing a complex or complicated challenge. To learn more about the difference, see Complex and Complicated Challenges.

Managing Complex Challenges​

  1. Complex challenges are dynamic, change over time, and change when you interact with them​

  2. There are no reliable “right” answers or solutions​

  3. Engage in low-investment and low-risk trials and prototypes to learn more about how to manage the challenge ​

  4. Amplify positive patterns and dampen negative patterns​

  5. Continuously monitor for changes in conditions and patterns​

  6. With experience, peel off and stabilize complicated parts of the challenge​.

Complex Planning Questions

NOTICE: What makes this step or challenge complex? What volatility, uncertainty, ambiguity and/or disagreement do we need to keep in mind?

ENGAGE: Whose perspectives and experiences are most relevant for this step? How will we listen to, design with and/or gather input from them?

TRY: What are the low-risk, low-investment trials and prototypes that we can try?

AMPLIFY / DAMPEN: What did we learn from our experiments? How can we build upon our experiments to amplify the positive patterns that emerge? What will we change or discontinue to dampen the negative patterns that emerge?

ENGAGE: How will we expand who we are communicating with and listening to in order to monitor and adapt our management of this complex step / challenge?

Solving Complicated Challenges​

  1. Complicated challenges are relatively stable and, once a solution is found, respond consistently to that solution ​

  2. Engage people with the expert knowledge, practice and context to confirm that it is complicated​

  3. Analyze the challenge, identify the possible solutions, and choose the one that best fits​

  4. Engage in continuous improvement to increase effectiveness​.

Complicated Planning Questions

VERIFY: How do we know this is complicated? What is our evidence that consistent solutions are possible and that the conditions for this challenge are stable?

ANALYZE: Who has the experience, expertise and capacity needed to analyze this challenge and identify known solutions?

SOLVE: What are the possible solutions? Which one fits best for our context? What is our plan for implementation / application?

IMPROVE: What did we do? What were the results? How did people experience it? How can we improve going forward?

Adapted from Credible Change Consulting, used with permission.