Here's a distinction that offers hope to harried healthcare executives: "Complex" and "complicated" are two different things. Why does it matter?

Recognizing the difference between complex problems and complicated problems leads to their solutions. Theodore Kinni, a contributing editor for the MIT Sloan Management Review, says complicated problems are problems that follow rules. Complex problems, on the other hand, involve unknowns. Kinni describes the difference this way:

Complicated problems can be hard to solve, but they are addressable with rules and recipes, like the algorithms that place ads on your Twitter feed. They also can be resolved with systems and processes, like the hierarchical structure that most companies use to command and control employees.

The solutions to complicated problems don't work as well with complex problems, however. Complex problems involve too many unknowns and too many interrelated factors to reduce to rules and processes.

A website commenter going by "ACARREIRA" posted this example: A car is complicated, traffic is complex. You can build a car or repair it, but you have to manage traffic, especially when you drive! You can achieve full visibility of a complicated system but not of a complex one. That's why rules can be used with the former but not with the latter