This picture is used by a Complexity advocate to conjecture that complex systems cannot be managed. This is not correct, as many of the claims made by self-proclaimed complexity experts. I've seen this scene of flocking birds first hand. It is mesmerizing to watch.Turns out these birds can be modeled with Boids, Flock Simulation of Birds, The Convergence of Bird Flocking, Flocking algorithm for autonomous flying robots, and numerous others.
Glen Alleman - see https://herdingcats.typepad.com/my_weblog/2020/03/a-compendium-of-managing-compelx-systyems.html
This collection of resources for the Management of Complex Adaptive Systems and starts with the INCOSE Working Group on Complex Systems. There are alternative paradigms for how to manage Complex Systems that range from other professional organizations to commercial tools. To individuals selling their ideas directly. This list will first provide sources that have been peer-reviewed. Then I'll provide other sources clearly labeled as commercial or personal opinion.
These resources are about managing complex systems, not about taxonomies of complexity, simple and simple-minded box charts, with pseudo-scientific units, but actual units of measures for the project's elements. These are about the engineering processes in the presence of complexity found on any system. The engineering of systems includes conceptualizing and building systems with large numbers of concurrently operating and interacting components—usually including both human and non-human elements.
Systems Engineering is the Engineering of Complex Systems.
Let's start with some definitions:
- Systems Engineers have initiatives to enable Model-Based Systems Engineering. But these initiatives may not be capturing the idea that these systems are complex. INCOSE and ISO-15288 Process areas capture best practices to address complicated systems, but there are additional methods required to address the emergent behavior found in Complex Systems.
- A popular understanding of Systems Engineering is that if an organization is mature in the INCOSE Process Area, then the products and services it produces will be optimal (low cost, high reliability, optimal stakeholder satisfaction).
- This is an optimization of a static, complicated system, but not necessarily an optimization of a complex, dynamic system, with emergent behavior – particularly in terms of social-technical systems.
- In our Software Intensive System of Systems domain, it's social-technical systems that are important, since people are always involved. In building the systems. Maintaining the Systems. Making decisions with the Systems. Using the Systems in the accomplishment of the Mission or fulfilling the Business Strategies. Even when these systems interact with other systems, the social-technical aspects are in place.
In order to engage in the high complexity system problem, the hard technology perspective must be expanded to include soft perspectives that account for human, political, managerial, and policy elements of the complex system problem.
So How Can We Manage in the Presence of Complexity? [3]
- Think like a Gardner, not a watchmaker.
- Acknowledge the complexity, encourage variety, explore new solutions.
- Take an adaptive stance in the same way living systems cope with complexity.
- Use free order in architecting and design solutions.
- Identify patterns and use them to describe the system and its possible solutions
- Zoom in and Zoom out to see the elements of the complex system.
- See-through new eyes since complex systems look different from different perspectives.
- Collaborate with information sharing, active listening, establish trust, and make decisions transparent.
- Achieve balance rather than optimization.
- Learn from problems.
- Apply metacognition.
- Focus on designing regions of the solution space rather than detailed outcomes.
- Understand the motives of autonomous agents, since incentives will motivate behavior.
- Maintain adaptive feedback loops to correct variations in outputs.
- Integrate problems by focusing on relationships rather than addressing them separately.
The Ten Things to Understand About Systems ‡
- A system exists within a wider context or environment.
- A system is made up of parts that interact with each other and a lifecycle.
- A system has structure, function, performance, behavior, and a lifecycle.
- A system has system-level properties (emergent properties) that are properties of the whole system not attributes of individual parts.
- A system both changes its environment and adapts to its environment when it is deployed.
- Systems contain multiple feedback loops with variable time-constants.
- A system may be part of one or several wider containing systems.
- A system may have one of three basic types of relationships with the environment: distinct, close-coupled, fluid, and dynamic
- A system may offer affordances for interaction.
- Types of the system include technical, biological, social, ecological, environmental, and combinations of these.
‡ Architecting Systems: Concepts, Principles, and Practice, Hillary Sillitto, College Publications, 2014
Add Now The Real Problem †
- System Engineers cannot Control complex systems development. They can only influence projects by targeted communications to manage In the Presence of Complexity.
- System Engineers need dynamic models of the Social Behavior of their teams to steer them through targeted communications.
- System Boundaries should be drawn around the stakeholders and environment of the system, not the development team.
- System Engineers need to bridge the gap between the Natural Sciences, the Social Sciences, and the Humanities.
† "Complexity and its Implications for Systems Engineering Process," Brian Castellini, Kent State University
Complexity is challenging to communicate and describe to others and is a poorly understood aspect of contemporary engineering work.
Resources for Complex Systems Engineering
Let's start with a map of Complexity Science, with links to each site, Brian Castellani, "Map of the Complexity Sciences," Art & Science Factory
The science of Complex Adaptive Systems is the study of interactive and dynamic systems that change over a range of individual and evolutionary time scales
The following resources are in support of work in a broad range of domains from space and defense, power systems, software intensive system of systems, intelligence systems, enterprise information systems, distributed process control systems, risk management, program planning and controls, and other domains we work in
Complex Systems Organizations
- UNC Charlotte Complex Systems Institute, a multi-disciplinary, university-wide research center
- Center for Nonlinear and Complex Systems (CNCS), research and teaching of nonlinear dynamics and mechanisms governing emergent phenomena in complex systems.
- LSA Complex Systems, University of Michigan,
- Systems Academy, a resource for complex systems thinking
- Complex Systems, College of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Colorado, Boulder
- Center for the Study of Complex Systems (CSCS), University of Michigan, multi and interdisciplinary program for research and education in nonlinear, dynamical, and adaptive systems
- Complex Systems Society, promotes the development of all aspects of complex systems science in the countries of Europe, as well as the whole international scientific community.
- Centre for Complex Systems, University of Sydney, the study of collective behaviors and critical phenomena in brain dynamics, computational epidemiology, urban and social dynamics, swarm intelligence, distributed computation, systems biology and nanoscience
- Vermont Complex Systems Center, University of Vermont College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences on real-world, data-rich, and meaningful complex systems problems
- Complexity Explorer, Complexity Explorer delivers online courses, tutorials, and resources essential to the study of complex systems, an education project of the Santa Fe Institute.
- Complexity Digest, a network of the complexity community with a hub of links to relevant complexity sites in research, application, and education.
- Systems Innovation, an online platform enabling users across academia and industries to tackle complex problems through systems thinking
- New England Complex Systems Institute, independent academic research, and educational institution with students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty.
- International Complexity Institutes and Research Centres
- Complexity Lab Barcelona
- Complex Systems Theory - a site with many resources for managing complex systems, from JM van Rooyen a researcher in agent-based modeling, complex adaptive systems, self-organization, and emergence in the urban environment. Lots of resources and clear and concise engineering solutions, not just theory.
- Center for Nonlinear Studies at Los Alamos National Laboratory
- Complex Systems Analysis, RAND Corporation
- SIG for Structural Complexity, MIT - Design Structure Matrix is a powerful tool for modeling, managing, and controlling complexity
- Intechopen Complex Adaptive Systems - an open resource site for books and papers on a variety of technical topics. This link finds complex adaptive systems
Complexity Journals Applicable to Complex Engineered System of Systems
- Complexity International Journal
- Strategies of Dynamic Complexity Management, Helena Knyazeva, Foresight, and STI Governance, Vol. 14, No. 4, 2020
- Complexity, a Journal from Hindawi
- Chaos Engineering: Building Confidence in System Behavior through Experiments, Casey Rosenthal, Lorin Hochstein, Aaron Blohowiak, Nora Jones & Aki Basri, O'Reilly, 2017.
- Introduction to the Modeling and Analysis of Complex Systems, Hiroko Sayama, Open Texts SUNY, 2015.
- Managing Complex Systems: Thinking Outside the Box, Howard Eisner, Wiley-Interscience, 2005.
- Complex adaptive systems: an introduction to computational models of social life, Miller, John H., and Scott E. Page. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007.
- The nature of technology: what it is and how it evolves, Arthur, W. Brian. New York: Free Press, 2009.
System Complexity Books Used on Complex System of Systems
- The Sciences of the Artificial, 3rd Edition, MIT Press, October 1, 1996.
- Causality: Models, Reasoning, and Inference, 2nd Edition, Judea Pearl, Cambridge University Press, 2009.
- Modelling Complex Projects, Terry Williams, John Wiley & Sons, 2002.
- Evolving toolbox for Complex Project Management, Alex Gorod, Leonie Hallo, Vernon Irland, and Indra Gunawan, CRC Press, 2019
- Emergence Theory: An Overview, A Complexity Labs Publication,
- Dynamical Systems and Control, Eds Firdaus E. Udwadia, H. I. Weber, George Lietmann, in Stability and Control: Theory, Methods, and Applications, Volume 22, Chapman & Hall,
- Complexity & Postmodernism: Understanding Complex Systems, Paul Cilliers, Routledge, 1998
- Complex and Adaptive Dynamical Systems: A Primer, Claudius Gros, Springer, 2008
- Complex Adaptive Systems: An Overview: An Accessible Introduction to the New Area of Complex Adaptive Systems, Joss Colchester, 2016
- Applications of Complex Adaptive Systems, Yin Shan and Ang Yang, IGI Publishing, 2008
- Complex Adaptive Systems an introduction to computational models of social life, John H. Miller and Scott E. Page, Princeton University Press, 2007.
- Unifying Themes in Complex Systems: Proceedings of the International Conference on Complex Systems - I - IX, New England Complex Systems Institute
- Modeling and Control of Complex Dynamic Systems, Zhiwei Gao, Dexing Kong, and Chuanhou Gao, editors Journal of Applied Mathematics, 2012.
- An Introduction to Systems Science, John N. Warfield, World Scientific, 2006
- An Introduction to Complex Systems: Making Sense of a Changing World, Joe Tranquillo, Springer, 2019
- Simply Complexity: A Clear Guide to Complexity Theory, Neil Johnson, Oneworld Publications, 2009
- Complexity Explained, Péter Érdi, Springer, 2008
- Managing Complexity in High Technology Organizations, Mary Ann Von Glinow, and Susan Albers Mohrman, Oxford University Press
- Chaos: Making a New Science, James Gleick, Open Media, 2011.
- Design Structure Matrix Methods and Applications, Steven D. Eppinger, and Tyson R. Browning, MIT Press, 2012.
- Managing the Unknown: A New Approach to Managing High Uncertainty and Risk in Projects, Christoph H. Loch Arnoud De Meyer, Michael T. Pich, John Wiley & Sons, 2006.
- Managing Complex Technical Projects: A Systems Engineering Approach, R. Ian Faulconbridge, Michael J. Ryan, ARTECH House, 2002.
- Six Simple Rules: How to Manage Complexity without Getting Complicated, Yves Morieux, and Peter Tollman, Harvard Business Review Press, 2014.
- Strategy for Managing Complex Systems a Contribution to Management Cybernetics for Evolutionary Systems, Edmund Malik, University of Chicago Press, 2016.
- Network Science, Albert-László Barabási, Cambridge University Press, 2016. Web Site for the Soft Copy of the Book, Chapter 10 speaks to current COVID-19 outbreak
- Engineering Complex Systems with Models and Objects, David W. Oliver, Timothy P. Kelliher, and Jams G. Keegan, Jr. McGraw-Hill, 1997.
- Introduction to the Theory of Complex Systems, Stefen Thurner, Rudolf Hanel, Peter Klimek, Oxford University Press, 2018
- Architecting Systems: Concepts, Principles, and Practice, Hillary Sillitto, College Publications, 2014
- Thinking in Systems: A Primer, Donella H. Meadows, Chelsea Green Publishing, 2008.
- The Art of Systems Architecting, Third Edition, Mark W. Maier and Eberhardt Rechtin, CRC Press, 2000
- Systems Engineering, Coping with Complexity, Richard Stevens, Peter Brook, Ken Jackson, and Stuart Arnold, Prentice Hall
- Systems Thinking: Building Maps for Worlds of Systems, John Boardman and Brian Sauser, John Wiley & Sons, 2013.
- Systems Thinking: Coping with 21st Century Problems, John Boardman and Brian Sauser, CRC Press, 2008.
- Systematics: How Systems Work and Especially How They Fail, John Gall, Quadrangle Books, 1977.
- Managing Complex Systems: Thinking Outside the Box, 1st Edition, Howard Eisner, Wiley-Interscience, 2005.
- Chaos Engineering: Building Confidence in System Behaviour through Experiments, Casey Rosenthal, Lorin Hochstein, Aaron Blohowiak, Nora Jones, and Ali Basiri, O'Reilly, 2017.
- Thriving on the Edge of Chaos: Managing Projects as Complex Adaptive Systems, Jonathan Sapir, CRC Press, 2019.
- Systems Thinking, Third Edition: Managing Chaos and Complexity: A Platform for Designing Business, Jamshid Gharajedaghi, Morgan Kaufmann; 3 edition (July 13, 2011).
- The Systems Bible: The Beginner's Guide to Systems Large and Small, 3rd Edition, John Gall, 2002.
- Complex Systems Engineering: Advances in the Theory and Practice, Shannon Flumerfelt, Katherine G. Schwartz, et al., American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 20 March 2019.
- Complexity Explained, Peter Erdi, Springer, 2008.
- Complex Systems, Lecture Notes of the Les Houches Summer School, Session LXXXV, J.-P. Bouchaud, M. Mezard, and J, Dailbard, Elsevier, 2006.
- Modeling Complex Systems, Second Edition, Nino Boccara, Springer, 2010.
- Organize for Complexity, Niels Pflaeging, BetaCodex, 2014.
- Aspects of Complexity: Managing Projects in a Complex World, Terry Cooke-Davies, Project Management Institute, 2011.
- Managing the Unexpected: Sustained Performance in a Complex World, 3rd Edition, Karl E. Weick and Kathleen M. Sutcliffe, Jossey-Bass, 2015
Complexity Tools
- Complex-IT is a web-based and downloadable software
- AnyLogic is a simulation modeling tool
Papers, Presentations, Thesis for Engineering, and Managing Complex Projects and the Principles of Chaos Engineering
For each paper here, go to the bibliography to find the resources used there to expand on the concept of complex systems and their management
- "Complex Systems + Systems Engineering = Complex Systems Engineering," Russ Abbot, Aerospace Corporation, 2006.
- "Complex Systems: A Review," Seth Llyod, MIT Engineering Systems Division, May 29-30, 2002.
- "A Review of Changeability in Complex Engineering Systems," Brendan P.Sullivana. MonicaRossia and SergioTerzia, IFAC Papers On-Line, Vol 51, Issue 11, pp. 1567-1572, 2018.
- "A Review on Complex Systems Engineering," Parrend Pierre and Collet Pierre, Journal of System Science and Complex, 33, pp. 1755-1784
- "Adaptive Software Development: A Collaborative Approach to Managing Complex Systems," Jim Highsmith,
- "Re-Conceptualizing Agile Information Systems Development Using Complex Adaptive Systems Theory," Ghada Alaa & Guy Fitzgerald, E: CO Vol. 15 No. 3 2013 pp. 1-23
- "Reducing software complexity by hidden structure analysis Methods to improve modularity and decrease ambiguity of a software system," Oscar Bjuhr and Klas Segeljakt, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm Sweden, 2016.
- "Managing complex product development projects with design structure matrices and domain mapping matrices," Mike Danilovic and Tyson R. Browning, International Journal of Project Management, 25, 2007, pp. 300-314.
- "Developing measures of complexity for engineering design," Joshua David Summers, Journal of Mechanical Design, Vol. 132, 2010.
- "Design of Complex Engineered Systems and the Effectiveness of Organizational Networks," Bryan Still, University of Rhode Island, 2018
- "Complexity in Project Management," J. R. San Cristobal, Procedia Computer Science, 121, 2017, pp. 762-766
- "Complexity and Chaos - State of the Art," M. Couture, Defence R&D Canada, Technical Note 2006-450, September 2007.
- "Complex Concurrent Engineering and the Design Structure Matrix," Ali Yassine and Dan Braha, Concurrent Engineering: Research and Applications, Volume 11, Number 3, September 2003
- "A Simulation-Based Process Model for Managing Complex Design Projects," Soo-Haeng Cho and Steven D. Eppinger, IEEE Transactions on Engineering, Vol. 52, No. 3, August 2005.
- "A Model for Dependency-Oriented Prototyping in the Agile Development of Complex Techncial Systems," Michael Riesener, Eric Rebentisch, Christian Dolle, Sebastian Schlosser, Maximillian Kuhn, Jan Raderermacher, and Gunther Schuh, 29th CIRP Design, 2019
- "A meta-analysis study of project and programme management complexity in the oil and gas sector of the Middle East and North Africa region," WaEL M. Ziadat, School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, The University Manchester.
- "A Framework for Studying Cost Growth on Complex Acquisition Programs," Morgan Dwyer, Bruce Cameron, and Zoe Szajnfarber, Systems Engineering, 2015
- "Complex system governance development: A first-generation methodology," Chuck Keating and Polinpapilinho F. Katina, International Journal of System of Systems Engineering 7(1/2/3):43
- "Applying Advanced 21st Century Systems Engineering and Integration (SEI) Methods to Address and Manage Risks within a CAS Environment," Gennaro J. Avvento, Procedia Computer Science, 36, pp. 140-144, 2014.
- "Exploring Project Complexity through Project Failure Factors: Analysis of Cluster Patterns Using Self-Organizing Maps," Vicente Rodríguez Montequín , Joaquín Villanueva Balsera, Sonia María Cousillas Fernández, and Francisco Ortega Fernández, Complexity, Volume 2018.
- "An Assistance to Project Risk Management Based on Complex Systems Theory and Agile Project Management," Franck Marle, Complexity, Volume 2020.
- "Measuring the Project Management Complexity: The Case of Information Technology Projects," Rocio Poveda-Bautista, Jose-Antonio Diego-Mas, and Diego Leon-Medina, Complexity, Volume 2018.
- "Complexity and Project Management: Challenges, Opportunities, and Future Research," José R. San Cristóbal, Emma Diaz, Luis Carral, José A. Fraguela, and Gregorio Iglesias, Complexity, Volume 2019.
- "Complexity and Project Management: A General Overview," José R. San Cristóbal, Luis Carral, Emma Diaz, José A. Fraguela, and Gregorio Iglesias, Complexity, Volume 2018.
- "Anatomy of Complex System Research," Yang Wang and Xinyue Wang, Complexity, 2020.
- "An Introduction to Complex Systems Science and Its Applications," Alexander F. Siegenfeld and Yaneer Bar-Yam, Complexity, 2020.
- "Model-Based Systems Engineering in Support of Complex Systems Development," J. Stephen Topper and Nathaniel C. Horner, Johns Hopkins Technical Digest, Volume 32, Number 1, 2013
- "The Role of Complexities in Systems Engineering Cost Estimating Processes," Leone Z. Young, Dr. John V. Farr, and Dr. Ricardo Valerdi, CSER, 2010
- "An Object-Oriented Modelling Framework for Probabilistic Risk and Performance Assessment of Complex Systems," Jussi-Pekka PENTTINEN, Tampere University, 2020
- "Acting in the Unknown: The Cynefin Framework for Managing Cybersecurity Risk in Dynamic Decision Making," Josiah A. B. S. Dykstra and Stephen R. Orr IV, Proceedings CYCON-U-S, 2016.
- "Measurement of Enterprise Coherence by means of the GEA C-index – A First Investigation," Joost Bekel and Roel Wagter, 2020 IEEE 22nd Conference on Business Informatics (CBI)
- "On Principles of Complex Systems Engineering," B. E. White, NDIA 15th Annual Systems Engineering Conference, October 13, 2012
- "Enterprise Systems Engineering Theory and Practice, Volume 2: Systems Thinking for the Enterprise: New and Emerging Perspectives," George Rebovich, Jr., The MITRE Corporation, November 2005.
- "Beyond Web Services: Towards On-Demand Complex Adaptive Environments," Dr. R. Cherinka, Dr. R. Miller and C. Smith, The MITRE Corporation
- "Evolving Complex Adaptive Systems and Systems Engineering," MITRE Corporation,
- "Complex Adaptive Systems: Adapting and Managing Teams and Team Conflict," John R. Turner, Rose Barker, and Mark Morris, Intercohopen, November 2017.
- "Complex Systems at NASA - Help from Natural Systems," Micheal D. Watson Ph.D., NASA MSFC, Systems Engineering Management Office
- "Infrastructure as a Complex Adaptive System," Edward Oughton, Will Usher, Peter Tyler, and Jim Hall, Public Policy Modeling and Applications, Volume 208, Article 3427826
- "Complex Adaptive Systems," Murray Gell-Mann, in Complexity: Metaphors, Models, and Reality, Eds G. Cowan, D. Pines, and D. Meltzer, SFI Studies in Sciences of Complexity, Sante Fe Institute, 1994
- "Complex adaptive systems as metaphors for organizational management," Klara Palmberg, The Learning Organization, Vol. 16, No. 6, 2009
- "A Complexity Science-Based Approach to Programme Risk Management," Nigel J. Smith Denise Bower, and Bernard Aritua, 22nd IPMA World Congress, 9-11 November 2009.
- "A Complex Adaptive Systems of Systems Approach to the Human-Automation Interaction in Smart Grid," Alireza Fereidunian, Hamid Lesani, Mohammad Ali Zamani, Mohamad Amin Sharifi Kolarijani, Negar Hassanpour, and Sina Sharif Mansouri, in Contemporary Issues in Systems Sciences and Engineering, Firth Edition, IEEE, 2015
- "Complex Engineered Systems: A New Paradigm," Ali A. Minai, Dan Braha, and Yaneer Bar-Yam. in Complex Engineered Systems: Science Meets Technology, Springer 2006.
- "Complex Adaptive System of Systems (CASoS) Engineering Applications Version 1.0." Theresa J. Brown, Robert J. Glass, Walter E. Beyeler, Arlo L. Ames, John M. Linebarger, and S. Louise Maffitt, Sandia National Laboratories, SAND 2011-8032, October 2011.
- "Modeling Power Systems as Complex Adaptive Systems," Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, December 2004.
- "Complex Adaptive Systems of Systems: A Grounded Theory Approach," Bonnie Johnson, Karen Holness, Wayne Porter, and Alejandro Hernandez, Grounded Theory Review, Dec 27, 2018
- "Cyberspace: The Ultimate Complex Adaptive System," Paul W. Phister Jr., International C2 Journal, Volume 4, Number 2, 2010-2011
- "Armies as Complex Adaptive Systems," Carlos Marti, March 2018.
- "Complex Adaptive Systems in Military Analysis," Keith Green, Institute for Defense Analyses, IDA Document D-4313, May 2011
- "Engineering Complex Systems," Douglas O. Norman and Michael L. Kuras, MITRE Corporation, in Complex Engineered Systems
Science Meets Technology, - "Guide to Project Management Strategies for Complex Projects," S2-R10-RW-2, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, February 2015.
- "ARC-VM: An Architecture of Real Options Complexity-Based Valuation Methodology for Military Systems-of-Systems Acquisitions," A Thesis Presented to The Academic Faculty by Jean Charles Domer, School of Aerospace Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, December 2011
- "Operationalizing Knowledge: A New Chapter in the Saga of US War Fighting and Cognition," Philip Kao, Air & Space Power Journal, May-June 2012.
- "Shock-Based Operations New Wine in an Old Jar," Lt Col John N.T. Shanahan, USAF
- "Complex Adaptive Systems and the Development of Force Structures for the United States Air Force," Eric M. Murphy, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF, Drew Paper No. 18, Air University Press, Air Force Research Institute, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.
- "Uncertainty, Difficulty, and Complexity," Scott E. Page, SFI Working Paper, 1998-08-076
- "An Analysis of the Internal Structure of Large Autonomous Systems," Ramesh Govindan and Pavlin Radoslavov, University of Southern California, Technical Report No. 02-777, 2002.
- "A Research on Measuring and Reducing Problem Complexity to Increase System Affordability: From Theory to Practice," Alejandro Saladoa and Roshanak Nilchiania, 2015 Conference on Systems Engineering Research
- "A Network-Based Structural Complexity Metric for Engineered Complex Systems," Kaushik Sinha and Olivier L. de Weck, IEEE Systems Conference, 2013
- "The Future of Management: The NASA Paradigm," Philip R Harris, Space Resources Social Concerns, NASA Ames Research Center
- "Mechanism for Measuring System Complexity: Applying Sensitivity Analysis," Viviane M. Gomes, Joao R. B. Paiva, Marcio R. C. Reis, Gabriel A. Wainer, and Wesley P. Calixto, Complexity, Volume 2019, Article ID 1303241, 12 pages.
- "On Uncertainty, Ambiguity, and Complexity in Project Management," Michael T. Pinch, Christoph H. Loch, and Arnoud De Meyer, Management Science Vol. 48, No. 8, August 2002.
- "Management of Novel Projects under Conditions of High Uncertainty," Arnoud De Meyer, Christoph H. Loch, Michael T. Pich, Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, 2006.
- "A model of project complexity: distinguishing dimensions of complexity from severity," Kaye Remington, Roxanne Zolin, and Rodney Turner.
- "An Introduction to Modeling and Analyzing Complex Product Development Processes Using the Design Structure Matrix (DSM) Method," Ali A. Yassine, Product Development Research Laboratory, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- "Managing Software and System Complexity," Sara A. Sheard, Software Solutions Conference 2015, November 16–18, 2015
- "Systems Engineering Complexity & Project Management, Bob Ferguson, NDIA: CMMI Technology Conference, November 2007
- "Complexity in a Systems Engineering Context," Sarah Sheard, 29th Annual INCOSE International Symposium, July 20-25, 2019.
- "The Concept of Problem Complexity," Alejandro Salado and Roshanak Nilchiani, Conference on Systems Engineering Research(CSER 2014),
- "Principles of Complex Systems for Systems Engineering," Sara A. Sheard and Ali Mostashari, INCOSE Systems Engineering, Volume 12, Issue 4, Winter 2009
- "System Engineering in the 21st Century - Implications from Complexity Theory Complex Venture Acquisition," Linda J. Vandergriff, Aerospace Corporation, 2007.
- "A Model of Project Complexity: Distinguishing Dimensions of Complexity from Severity," Kaye Remington, Roxanne Zolin and Rodney Turner, Proceedings of the 9th International Research Network of Project Management Conference, 11–13 October 2009, Berlin.
- "Measuring and Influencing Problem Complexity and its Impact of System Affordability During Requirements Elicitation for Complex Engineered Systems," Alejandro Salado Diez, Stevens Institute of Technology, 2014
- "Deliberate Ignorance in Project Risk Management," Elmar Kutsch and Mark Hall, International Journal of Project Management, 28, pp. 245-255, 2011
- "The Project Office as Project Management Support in Complex Environments, Gunnar Widforss and Malin Rosqvist, Procedia Computer Science, 00, 2015
- "And Then Came Complex Project Management (revised)," Harvey Maylor and Jonathan Whitty, International Journal of Project Management, 2009
- "Project Management Processes as a Complex Network," Jose Carlos Machicado Valencia,
- "Managing Complex Product Development Projects with Design Structure Matrices and Domain Mapping Matrices," Mike Danilovic and Tyson R. Browning, International Journal of Project Management, 25, pp. 300-314, 2007.
- "Measuring the Project Management Complexity: The Case of Information Technology Projects, Rocio Poveda-Bautista, Jose-Antonio Diego-Mas, and Diego Leon-Medina,
- "Chaos Engineering, Ali Basiri, Niosha Behnam, Ruud de Rooij, Lorin Hochstein, Luke Kosewski, Justin Reynolds, Casey Rosenthal, IEEE Software, vol.33, no. 3, pp. 35-44, May-June 2016.
- "A Complexity Primer for Systems Engineers," TP-2016-001-01.0
- "Complex Adaptive Systems and Complexity Theory: Inter-related Knowledge Domains," Rebecca Dodder and Robert Dare, ESD.83: Research Seminar in Engineering Systems, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, October 31, 2000
- On Systems architects and systems architecting: some thoughts on explaining the art and science of system architecting,” Sillitto, H. G., “ Proceedings of INCOSE IS 2009, Singapore, 20-23 July 2009.
- "Appreciative Methods Applied to the Assessment of Complex Systems," Mike Watson, Randall Anway, Dorothy McKinney, Larri Ann Rosser, and John MacCarthy, 29th Annual INCOSE International Symposium, Orlando, FL, July 20-25, 2019.
- "Systems Engineering: The Art of Simplifying the Complexity," Bernardo A. Delicado, Invited Lecturer at Carlos III University of Madrid, 9 January 2013.
- "Improving Complex Enterprises with System Models," Justin M. Hermann, MIT, 2005.
- "Strategies for Dealing with Instabilities in a Complex, Multi- Project Product Development System Engineering Environment," Michael R. Wright, MIT, February 2003.
- "Complexity and Project Management: Challenges, Opportunities, and Future Research, " José R. San Cristóbal, Luis Carral, Emma Diaz, José A. Fraguela, and Gregorio Iglesias, Complexity, Volume 2019, Article 6979721.
- "Complexity and Project Management: A General Overview," José R. San Cristóbal, Luis Carral, Emma Diaz, José A. Fraguela, and Gregorio Iglesias, Complexity, Volume 2018, Article 4891286.
- "Modeling and Simulation of Project Management through the PMBOK® Standard Using Complex Networks," Luz Stella Cardona-Meza1 and Gerard Olivar-Tost, Complexity, Volume 2017, Article 4791635
- "Computational Experiment Study on Selection Mechanism of Project Delivery Method Based on Complex Factors," Xiang Ding, Zhaohan Sheng, Jianguo Du, and Qian Li, Mathematical Problems in Engineering, Volume 2014, Article 701652.
- "Collaborative Management of Complex Major Construction Projects: AnyLogic-Based Simulation Modelling," Na Zhao and Shi An, Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society, Volume 2016, Article ID 6195673. A personal edition of AnyLogic Simulation Software can be used to model intelligent decisions in complex environments. Go to site, download tool and white papers on modeling in complex environments