Teaching and Learning Complex Reasoning: An Integrative Framework

Abstract

Despite the increasing calls for embedding complexity theory and system thinking in business and management research and education, scholarly work and educational curricula adopting complex reasoning are still very sparse. This conceptual article aims to propel this line of research and education by developing an integrated framework for teaching and learning of complex reasoning. The model highlights several cognitive challenges underpinning the adoption of complexity thinking, such as the tendency to simplify reductionist thinking, the counterintuitivenss of complex systems’ behavior, the continuous evolution of complex systems, and the difficulty of updating cognitive frames, and the tendency towards immediate decision-making. Given such challenges, we argue for the need for dynamic preparedness as a core competence for embedding complex reasoning in research and practice. Based on complexity’s threshold concepts, namely non-linearity, feedback loops, system delays, systems’ dependency on initial conditions, and multiple interactions, we argue how dynamic preparedness can be developed through an inductive, situated educational approach, which trains intuition to sensemaking and towards the recognition of boundary conditions of simplified models. The proposed framework provides a timely contribution to complexity research and complex reasoning education in management and policy, particularly crucial to prevent and mitigate future systemic shocks.