Why Complex Systems Fail Suddenly: Mollick's Semi-Annual Reread of the 18 Laws
eldonredwards · x · 2026-11-14
Wharton professor Ethan Mollick says he reposts this classic paper every six months because it's worth rereading: How Complex Systems Fail. The paper lays out 18 reasons complex systems fail, with the core insight that such systems fail suddenly and catastrophically for complex reasons — and what actually keeps us safe is organizational adaptation and learning, plus individual "actions on the sharp end." The framework offers useful lens for reasoning about failure modes in large-scale AI systems.
Related event: Wharton's Mollick Rereads Classic on How Complex Systems Fail(2 posts)→
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