People Who Have High “Integrative Complexity” Skills Achieve More And Succeed Faster

The most successful people in the world are insanely great at recognising and integrating multiple perspectives and possibilities.

They consistently get good at reducing their blindspots and gathering smart perspectives (even if they don’t with it) before they make life and career-changing decisions.

Francis Scott Fitzgerald, an American essayist, and novelist — best known for The Great Gatsby once said: “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.”

Integrative Complexity skill is the basic foundation for better decision making and good judgement. “The measure of integrative complexity has two components: differentiation and integration. Differentiation refers to the perception of different dimensions when considering an issue. Integration refers to the recognition of cognitive connections among differentiated dimensions or perspectives.”

In an ever-changing world, this skill is a superpower. If you want to succeed, thrive and become the best version of yourself in our uncertain world in the future hone your integrative complexity skills.

At a basic level, integrative complexity is about how you process information. People who have this skill think there is more than one way to look at things.

They successfully create links between disparate things and bring them into a coherent overall resolution. Highly influential business leaders like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Elon Musk have this skill in common.

What successful icons have in common

In his book, Principles, self-made billionaire Ray Dalio, writes that he performed comprehensive personality assessments on Elon Musk (Tesla, SpaceX), Bill Gates (Microsoft), Jack Dorsey (Twitter), Reed Hastings (Netflix), Jeff Bezos (Amazon) and other “shapers,” or people who shape society and found an interesting skill among them.

“All are able to see both big pictures and granular details (and levels in between) and synthesize the perspectives they gain at those different levels, whereas most people see just one or the other. They are simultaneously creative, systematic, and practical. They are assertive and open-minded at the same time,” he writes.

Successful people tend to find patterns in places people ignore. They can be wildly creative or innovative yet highly organized with intense attention to detail and precision.

Solving problems better means actively looking for patterns in ideas and innovative products and finding similarities that link contrasting concepts rather than differences.

Leonardo da Vinci’s observation that “everything connects” informed most of his work. He didn’t differentiate so much between subjects because he believed that they were all inter-related.

Michael J. Gelb explains Leonardo’s life and career principles in his book, How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day:

“The Seven Da Vincian Principles are: Curiosità — An insatiably curious approach to life and an unrelenting quest for continuous learning. Dimostrazione — A commitment to test knowledge through experience, persistence, and a willingness to learn from mistakes. Sensazione — The continual refinement of the senses, especially sight, as the means to enliven experience. Sfumato (literally “Going up in Smoke”) — A willingness to embrace ambiguity, paradox, and uncertainty. Arte/Scienza — The development of the balance between science and art, logic and imagination. “Whole-brain” thinking. Corporalità — The cultivation of grace, ambidexterity, fitness, and poise. Connessione — A recognition of and appreciation for the interconnectedness of all things and phenomena. Systems thinking.”

Making connections between seemingly unimportant things is perhaps one of the most crucial skills you can ever master to stay ahead in life and career.

“There’s the classic example of Steve Jobs taking classes on typefaces — there was no plan on how he was going to use that, but it became really smart for his design aesthetic,” writes Deena Varshavskaya, CEO of Wanelo.

Integrative complexity skill is like a muscle — you can develop it.

To build it, you must actively place yourself in situations that allow you to dig deeper to understand new concepts, principles and ideas to improve your life and career. You could start with one small area to open up to new ideas, and then gradually include more areas of your life.

It’s like having a mental map of how things should or must be done— yet being open for improvement, new approaches and mental models.

Roger Martin, the author of The Opposable Mind, calls it “integrative thinking,”. In his book, he defines this way of thinking as:

“The ability to face constructively the tension of opposing ideas and, instead of choosing one at the expense of the other, generate a creative resolution of the tension in the form of a new idea that contains elements of the opposing ideas but is superior to each.”

To improve your “integrative complexity” skills, push yourself to see everything else left to be seen outside your domain. Expose yourself to industries that get your attention. Open yourself up to the universe, which will create endless possibilities for you.

Integrative Complexity thinking is a “habit of thought” that all of us can consciously develop to arrive at solutions that would otherwise not be evident. To thrive in our uncertain world, train your brain to question everything, experiment boldly, and always question the obvious.

Your drive to learn, explore and question the obvious should have the same status as your drive to survive. Integrative complexity skills are the key to your survival in the future. Don’t get tied into rigid rules and narrow prejudices. Be both humble and intelligent — willing to ask questions and satisfy your curiosity. Your future depends on it.