Explaining Complexity in Software Development?

BMazurek asks: "I'm stumped by how to explain software development complexity (not theoretical big-O notation, that's easy) to non-developers. When it comes to people who aren't in the code, my explanations fall flat. It's not that the people I'm talking to are stupid, they're quite honestly people at the top of their respective (non-tech) fields. How do -you- explain software development complexity to non-developers? What analogies do you use?" "I often try the famous Fred Brooks, Jr. quote (seldom to much success):

'Software entities are more complex for their size than perhaps any other human construct because no two parts are alike (at least above the statement level). If they are, we make the two similar parts into a subroutine--open or closed. In this respect, software systems differ profoundly from computers, buildings, or automobiles, where repeated elements abound.'

Comments

And go where?

[hackwrench]

Sometimes I go out to eat at Taco Bell or Arby's or a Chinese Buffet. Usually they're empty, though sometimes there are people much older than me there, mostly grey hairs, sometimes a mother with her, I'm guessing junior high school daughter, sometimes there are couples. There are stores, a Wal-Mart and Gamestop. What should I do? Saying to get out of the house is one thing, but everyone else is hiding out in their house, because there's nowhere they want to be, nowhere to be.