In college it’s a common thing. Students, exposed for the first time to the complex ideas of philosophers, psychologists, and scientists, fall in love with complexity. They want, more than anything, to be able to think like their heroes, and many assume that the best way to do this is to emulate their language. Big words, complex sentences, and abstract ideas—the more abstract the better—abound. Once competent writers temporarily lose their own voice. Students who have not already developed solid writing skills produce gobbledygook (complexity without integration). Good professors provide constructive feedback and support learning that will eventually tame the gobbledygook and unleash more mature voices.

Falling in love with complexity is now common in adults. Adult development is a popular idea these days, and many adults are jumping on the complexity bandwagon, which is fueled by an abundance of popular books that tout the superiority of systems thinking, dialectical reasoning, etc. What the authors of these books often don’t tell their readers is that learning to think in a more complex way usually requires years of study in a particular discipline*. Readers are led to believe that all they need to do is read a book, take a course, or learn to meditate and they will emerge as more complex, integrated and capable persons. Unfortunately, they often learn the language of complexity, but don’t do the nuts and bolts learning, doing, and reflecting that’s required for integration.

In our assessments, I frequently see evidence of this problem. Check out this example: A successful manager should be able to apply transformational leadership and various frameworks to gather, interpret, weigh, balance, and align different individual and institutional perspectives and interests, as well as psychological and sociological aspects to allow for the emergence of the successful determination of an ideal resolution process for this cultural context. Such an approach would require emotional intelligence and dialectics to determine a set of guiding principles that will lead to an introspective and interactive process of finding a solution that is appreciative of the interdependence and significance of all perspectives.

This is love.

*In adulthood, one full level of development on Fischer’s, Commons, Kegan’s, Kohlberg’s, Armon’s, Kitchener & King’s, Jaques’, or Fowler’s scales takes 4 to 10 years of continuous reflective study and practice. Another way to think about this is that it takes about 10,000 hours of reflective study and practice to become an expert. This is long enough to fall out of love with complexity and strike up a relationship with simplicity!