Stop solving the wrong problem

Reading the Signals: What Complexity is Trying to Tell You

When things feel unpredictable or unclear, most leaders default to one of two moves: simplify or control.

It’s understandable — complexity creates tension.
But reacting too quickly risks missing the point.

Because complexity isn’t chaos. It’s communication.
And most of us were never taught how to listen to it.

Complexity speaks in patterns, not instructions

Unlike problems with clean solutions, complex systems send signals.

Those signals don’t arrive with instructions. They repeat, evolve, and surface in surprising places.

You’ll notice them in:

• A team that executes flawlessly but avoids hard conversations

• Strategic initiatives that move forward but don’t seem to stick

• Reorgs that create as much confusion as clarity

These aren’t broken systems. They’re signaling systems.

A lens for signal detection

Here’s a grounded way to sharpen your read:

1. Pattern — What keeps resurfacing, even when you shift tactics?

2. Paradox — Where are you navigating a tension that won’t resolve, only recalibrate?

3. Pressure Point — Where is energy building — frustration, silence, resistance — without movement?

Signals aren’t asking for a fix.
They’re asking for your attention.

Real-world signals

In a product org:
Launches keep stalling near the finish line. Meetings are full, updates are flowing — but momentum dies in the last 10%. A closer look reveals no decision authority at key checkpoints. The signal wasn’t about capacity. It was about ownership.

In a leadership team:
The execs agree on strategy, but execution falters. Everyone is “aligned” — yet results stay fragmented. Eventually, it surfaces: people are optimizing for personal risk, not shared outcomes. The signal was never in the slide deck — it was in the avoidance.

In life:
You keep reworking your calendar, trying to “make it fit.” But the exhaustion persists. That’s not a logistics problem. It’s a values signal.

Signals don’t tell you what to do.
They show you where to look more closely.

Cultivating signal literacy

Try this:

• Stop forcing clarity. Instead, look for what’s repeating.

• When a problem won’t resolve, name the paradox — not just the symptom.

• Watch where tension is building but not moving — that’s a signal.

Pattern recognition is a leadership skill.
Signal literacy is how you build it.

What signals have you been overlooking — and what might they be inviting you to notice?

If you’re navigating complexity, you don’t need more noise.
You need sharper attention.

Share this with someone else who leads inside complexity.
It might be the signal they didn’t know they needed.

Until next time - unlearning with you.

Natasa