Panta Rhei Enterprise

Step in the river …

Panta rhei. Everything flows. No one ever steps in the same river twice. The tagline of this site and blog. And it is time to step in the river again.

complex & simple, difficult & easy

Hey, Friend,

I keep using the word complex a lot. And it is not simple. It does not have to be difficult either. It can be easy. And simple can be difficult. Agreed? Or confused?

This is how I am using these words: I say complex when I see many different parts or variables that interact. Again and again. The system is dynamic. It changes. It is complex. When you plot how the system – or only one of its variables – changes over time, you get a nonlinear graph and not a straight line. It is complex. If there is only one variable – which is very rare – then its change is simple. The change is steady. Cause and effect are proportionate. The graph is linear. Simple. David Snowden calls these simple problems.

Most things, most processes are complex. It’s the interacting parts and variables. A complex process or even a task does not have to be difficult. Difficult is subjective. It is a category of our mind. Complex is a feature of the thing itself. Simple is a feature of the thing itself. So, I can experience the simple as difficult. (And personally, then I am procrastinating or it is more likely that I do.) And of course, I can find the complex easy. If I put my mind to it and tackle it now.

Each day, each week, …

Denn immer, immer wieder geht die Sonne auf 
Und wieder bringt ein Tag für uns ein Licht 
Ja, immer, immer wieder geht die Sonne auf 
Denn Dunkelheit für immer gibt es nicht 

For every morn again the sun is rising
And anew a day brings us a light
Yes, every morn again the sun is rising
As darkness forever does not exist

Thomas Hörbiger/ Udo Jürgens, 1967

Hey, Friend,

I don’t think I have started any blog post on Panta Rhei with poetry. It was time. Time to change it up a little. Time to write. Time to post something more lyrical here and not just on Texterium. Time.

What does this have to do with complexity, a regular reader of this blog has asked. And what does it have to do with change? It’s where the change comes from: a new day, a new week, … Each moment is new. Time changed from a moment ago. I changed from a moment ago. You changed from a moment ago. And who knows what the next moment will be like. What the new day will bring … What the long weekend will bring … (For me, this weekend starts today. On Friday.) Let’s make a whish, then it will be good. Things will change. As they always do in their complex ways.

Oh, and what does the pre in the heading mean? P R E … Panta Rhei Enterprise. I have put posts in categories. This little one is a meta-post. On topic. And on the blog itself.

A good day to all.