What is Complexity?
"There's no love in a carbon atom, no hurricane in a water molecule, no financial collapse in a dollar bill" - Peter Dodds
Aristotle described complex system behavior as when “the whole is more than the sum of the parts.” Complex Systems consist of many components interacting with each other and their environment to produce several layers and networks of interaction, which generate novel information that makes it difficult to study components of these systems in isolation or to completely predict their future. The main goal of Complex Systems Theory is to understand the relationship between these networks of interaction and the "emergent" properties of the system as a whole. Our global community of practice is focused on creating immediate and lasting impact by applying Complex Systems Theory to the pressing problems of our time on diverse teams.
Solve Complex Problems Together
Meet new collaborators and learn Complexity Science by doing within diverse teams
Complexity Science is an interdisciplinary and inclusive framework for studying, designing, and controlling Complex System behavior, such as global pandemics, extreme weather events, electoral politics, economic recovery and poverty, and much more. Over the course of one weekend, you will experience Complexity from a variety of perspectives, while developing solutions to real-world problems in a team setting. Many of the teams formed during our previous Complexity Weekend cohorts (May 2019, May & Oct 2020, May & Nov 2021) have resulted in productive collaboration and continued work to this day.
What to Expect in a Complexity Weekend Cohort
There are many ways to participate during in a Complexity Weekend cohort, and all of them are equally valid. You might choose to form or join a team that is "Learning Complexity by Doing" while helping to solve a difficult problem. You might participate in facilitated live sessions to get exposed to new perspectives and ideas, or you might spend your time coworking with others. You might chat with mentors or new collaborators, sharing resources through our text-based community infrastructure. Choose your own adventure! All modes of participation are welcome as we navigate our personal and team Complexity journeys together.
April 2022 Facilitators
At Complexity Weekend events, Facilitators lead interactive sessions, mentor teams, share Complexity Science knowledge and experience, create impactful connections, introduce problem-solving frameworks and tooling, and much more. The Facilitator's mission is to work with Organizers to guide the "how" of the CW experience, by enabling teams to embrace diverse perspectives, interface with system stakeholders to gather feedback, draw inspiration from the Complexity literature, and ultimately to accomplish their goals (whether it be a research proposal, a business plan, or any other outcome). Many teams that form at a Complexity Weekend event go on to do great things together and remain connected to the CW community.
Dov Tsal
Inspired by non-duality and seeing the importance of harmony in personal and organizational life, my mission is to apply a sense of wholeness in the world around me. Using speech and thought patterns, and Tao-inspired vision, I'll work with you on listening skills, constructive thinking, and emergence. My services to others include: Mentoring (short to mid-term mentoring to scrum-masters, agile coaches, and other leaders), Life-Coaching (discovering and constructing a growth path, opening possibilities and removing obstacles together), and Facilitation (running workshops and meeting that enable teams to reach emergence and discovery).
Dov Tsal
Freelance Tao-inspired Coach, Mentor, and Facilitator
Riley Wong
Riley Wong (they/them) is currently interested in distributed cooperative models, public goods and the commons, and emergence in interdependent systems. They have former lives in machine learning at Google, investigative journalism at ProPublica, research at Penn Medicine, and community organizing for queer and trans communities of color. They like writing speculative fiction, making music, and painting.
Riley Wong
Machine Learning Engineer at Google
Marie Applegate-Swanson
Marie is an experience & behavior designer. She leverages awe, curiosity, and wonder as catalysts for personal, collective, and organizational transformation. As a student at the International School of Manila in the Philippines, she witnessed and experienced deep connections that celebrated yet transcended religious, national, and cultural differences - this is at the heart of her work. Throughout her career, she's had the honor of working alongside a diverse group of folks to catalyze transformation, including CEOs of global corporations, formerly-incarcerated folks, kids, government officials, serial founders, artists, attorneys, world-renowned scientists, NYT best-selling authors, unhoused people, and educators.
Marie Applegate-Swanson
Co-Founder at The Virtual Village
Taiwo Ayinde
Taiwo has her PhD in Agricultural Economics with about 10 years of faculty experience. She anticipates being able to contribute greatly to the Complexity Weekend community of practice, and has excellent human relations and enjoys creating conducive and friendly atmospheres to work within. She believes creating such environments are critical to alleviating the challenges faced at work and creating a culture where everyone looks forward to showing up for each other each day.
Taiwo Ayinde
Researcher at Ahmadu Bello University
Probal Banerjee
Probal is the co-founder and CEO of the design-led collective, Depicentre Consulting. He works on the interfaces of business, learning, design, analytics, innovation, and storytelling. With leadership experience across seven countries strengthening his ability to manage cross-cultural and cross-functional virtual teams in complex matrix organisations, he has a passion for driving content- and culture- driven organisations making economic, social, ecological, and educational impact. He has been able to design effective products, services, and solutions, serving customers and building successful coalitions.
Probal Banerjee
Co-Founder and CEO at Depicentre Consulting
Briony Barr
Briony Barr is a visual-conceptual artist whose work explores process-based drawing, systems thinking and the effects of boundaries and limitations on emergent form. Her practice spans individual drawing and painting, collaborative drawing installation and interdisciplinary collaboration, particularly with scientists and musicians. Since 2011, Briony has collaborated with astrophysicist Prof. Andrew Melatos on ‘Drawing on Complexity’, which investigates the visual and social patterns which emerge through large-scale, rule-based collaborative drawing.
Briony Barr
Artist and Honorary Fellow at the School of Physics at The University of Melbourne; Co-Founder at Scale Free Network
Andrej Berlin
Andrej is the co-creator of the web3 design studio Deep Work. He has been involved in the design of over 100 different products for open source teams, start-ups, and fortune 500 enterprises. He is currently working on a skill-infrastructure project called Deep Skills.
Andrej Berlin
Co-Founder at Deep Work Studio; Co-Founder at Deep Skills
What people are saying about Complexity Weekend
Since 2019, over 80 Facilitators have mentored over 600 Participants, with more than 40 teams emerging to work on complex issues together. Join this robust global community of Applied Complexity practitioners. Teams have reached landmark achievements such as submitting grants and fellowship applications, publishing whitepapers and articles, and/or founding startups or consultancies. Their goals are as diverse as our Participants. Many teams continue to work together to this day!
April 2022 Organizers
Organizers are often in the background as Facilitators and Participants interact. Their mission is to create accessible environments and structures to encourage prosocial and productive interactions among community members, and to support Facilitators as much as possible. They also lead our public CW committees in their various missions to serve our community through deep time. Anyone in our global Community of Practice (who has participated in at least one CW event) is welcome to step up as an Organizer for an upcoming monthly Heartbeat event or a biannual Weekend cohort, or to join and contribute to a public CW committee.