Complexity is a result of differentiation and integration

Complexity is often associated with something messy or confusing. The messiness in a complex system, though, typically only happen when the differentiating parts of the complex system are not integrated. It’s difficult to predict what behaviour we expect from a car if the steering wheel and the car engine are not working together.

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References

Mihaly, Flow (p. 41).

Complexity is often thought to have a negative meaning, synonymous with difficulty and confusion. That may be true, but only if we equate it with differentiation alone. Yet complexity also involves a second dimension - the integration of autonomous parts.