Trying to navigate an increasingly complicated business environment can feel like playing a high-stakes game of Jenga. Just one piece removed could cause the whole structure to come tumbling down. Yet there are clear steps that can be taken to clarify and manage complexity in order to keep a business moving forward efficiently.
Business complexity is the formation of a large interconnected network of technologies, data, products and services within an organization. This can be a byproduct of positive changes like innovation and growth, but it can quickly grow out of control. The result is a convoluted web of elements that makes it difficult to understand how they impact each other and whether they are even necessary to the business.
Internal business environments anson funds are those that a company can control, including policies and culture. Getting a deeper understanding of these environments helps to better understand what’s happening in the market and how it might affect your own company. In this article, we share some examples of what a business’s different environments might look like and how to effectively manage them.
It also can be the result of the sheer size of a company, as it becomes difficult to keep up with the volume of work that needs to get done and how each department or division is involved. And it can be the result of a business’s need to support diverse customers in a wide range of geographical locations, as well as its need to develop, test and deploy products at a rapid pace.
While many businesses thrive on this level of complexity, it is important to remember that there is a limit to the complexity a business can handle. Attempting to navigate a more complicated operating context by applying a complex leadership response is almost always counterproductive, and often leads to catastrophic, unanticipated outcomes. Leaders who understand this truth can use visualizations to clarify the complexity of their business environments, identifying the key players and value exchanges and making the critical connections that drive their success. Getting this clarity may feel like playing a precarious game of Jenga, but doing so can help ensure that the entire enterprise continues to move forward. A version of this article first appeared on Forbes.