A new Think Research series uncovers the causes of needless complexity and provides solutions

If a company's employees can't provide a reason for each task that they do; the value it brings to the business or customers; or how it connects with their jobs, then the organization is probably beset with needless complexity. And there's no doubt that the business will suffer because of it.

Sometimes complexity brings value

Obviously, not all complexity is bad. Some problems are inherently complex - chip design, weather forecasting and cracking the genetic code come to mind. And trying to simplify such tasks would lead to useless results - here's a very simple model that predicts the weather with 100 percent accuracy:

On any given day, the weather will include one or more of the following conditions: sun, clouds, rain, hail, sleet, snow, freezing rain and darkness.

While this model is completely accurate, its predictions aren't very helpful - a more complex model with a great deal of data as well as climatology expertise is necessary to get useful predictions. Fortunately, there's an entire profession devoted to attacking this problem, and providing information that can be easily accessed by laypeople (on a TV, radio or Web site) and used to make decisions.

In the same spirit, IBM's Almaden Services Research group offers the first strategy for dealing with needed complexity: give it to an expert (even one outside the corporation, if necessary) to handle. Set up a group to deal with a complex problem, provide the necessary tools and data, and ensure that group members can talk sensibly about the problem with the non-experts who have to make decisions based on the results.

Sometimes, companies can avail themselves of a second option: technology. For example, a hundred years ago, owning and operating a car was an adventure. A driver had to be able to crank the engine, know how to diagnose and fix engine problems or even make his or her own spare parts. Cars weren't very reliable and driving at speeds of 40 miles per hour called for heroic efforts. Modern automobiles themselves are far more complex than they were in 1905, but the complexity is almost entirely hidden from the user, making the experience of managing the technology far simpler.

Sometimes complexity destroys value

Of course, not all complexity is necessary. IBM Research has identified four classifications of needless complexity:

• Unthinking complexity
• Diffused complexity
• Chosen complexity
• Layered complexity

Unthinking complexity

Unthinking (or localized) complexity is the most common kind of needless complexity. It arises when the person designing or implementing a system doesn't bother to look for simple ways of accomplishing a task, which creates more work. Some examples:

• A Web page that requires a reader to scroll to the top to click the "next page" link instead of duplicating the link at the bottom of the page
• A long list that is broken up into equally-sized segments instead of being accessible alphabetically or by date
• A system that shows all times in Eastern time, instead of converting them to match the user's time zone

The answer to unthinking complexity is simple: think about the user. IBM can help.