Understanding change in complex socio-technical systems

Abstract

This paper elaborates the conceptual underpinnings needed to understand and influence change in complex socio-technical systems. The nature of causality is first addressed, followed by consideration of the nature of complexity. It is argued that, at least from a practical perspective, the difficulty in understanding causality increases as complexity increases. The possibility of influencing change is addressed in terms of concepts, principles and models for analysis and design in a range of domains or contexts.