Stolarek et al’s editorial on leadership and governance[[1]] applies the Cynefin framework of complex systems to health provision and governance. I think they rightly identify that “most clinical specialty-level work functions predominantly in the complicated domain, whereas organisational and national system-level challenges… sit in complexity.” They go on to argue that these clinicians, used to working in the complicated domain, may not be well suited to managing these system-level complexities. What this comment ignores is the “specialty” of General Practice. As argued in my paper on the Cynefin Framework,[[2]] General Practitioners work predominantly in complexity. There is a strong argument that if we are looking for clinicians to take roles in system level governance, General Practitioners may be well suited to contribute to this challenge.

Stolarek et al’s editorial on leadership and governance[[1]] applies the Cynefin framework of complex systems to health provision and governance. I think they rightly identify that “most clinical specialty-level work functions predominantly in the complicated domain, whereas organisational and national system-level challenges… sit in complexity.” They go on to argue that these clinicians, used to working in the complicated domain, may not be well suited to managing these system-level complexities. What this comment ignores is the “specialty” of General Practice. As argued in my paper on the Cynefin Framework,[[2]] General Practitioners work predominantly in complexity. There is a strong argument that if we are looking for clinicians to take roles in system level governance, General Practitioners may be well suited to contribute to this challenge.