Complex Social System

A complex system is a system whose behavior cannot be easily or intuitively predicted. A complex social system is a complex system whose behavior is primarily the result of the behavior of individual social agents. Examples are ant colonies, families, and nations.

Several attempts have been made to identify what it is that makes some problems difficult. The work of Dietrich Dorner and Joachim Funke lists the key characteristics of difficult problems as:

1. Intransparency - Lack of clarity of the situation.
2. Polytele - Multiple goals.
3. Complexity - Large numbers of items, interrelations, and decisions.
4. Dynamism - Time considerations.

Complex social system problems have all of these characteristics. Dormer and Funke feel that "The resolution of difficult problems requires a direct attack on each of these characteristics." This we have done. To organize the whole approach and allow its continuous improvement, we follow a process that fits the problem. This is the System Improvement Process (SIP). The first step of SIP, Problem Definition, increases clarity of the situation and decreases the tendency of problem solvers to pursue multiple and inappropriate goals (without realizing it) by formally defining the problem using a fill in the blanks template. The second step, System Understanding, reduces the complexity of the problem by breaking the overall problem into three subproblems, each of which is much easier to analyze and solve. The second step also employs system dynamics, which reduces complexity even more by translating cognitive understanding into a simulation model. Unlike a mental model, a simulation model can be added to indefinitely without the additional complexity reducing the model's ability to accurately mimic the system's dynamic behavior. And finally, the use of system dynamics allows time considerations to become explicitly and easily integrated into the analysis. While the use of SIP and system dynamics do not eliminate the characteristics of difficult problems, it does greatly reduce their effect.

To summarize, because the behavior of complex social systems is so inherently difficult to understand, formal analysis using the correct tools is required to solve difficult complex social system problems. The key tools appear to be a process that fits the problem and system dynamics.