Whatever this model was, it had to be so pervasive as to be in plain sight all the time. Everyone was headed in the direction of looking for fields and forces and mathematical rules. The mechanisms don't make a never-mind. But it is quite possible that all these mechanisms share a similar characteristic that can confine us into a 'complexity'. In ways that have only limited connection with fractal mathematics.
Some aspect is shared in a recursive and ongoing manner.
That is the thing underscoring even fields forces and mathematical rules. It is the characteristic that other researchers saw, but casually set aside in deference to figuring out the specifics of those fields and rules. The reason we see beautiful complexity come out of 'simple' equations, is because the functions were designed to be 'self-communicators'. Take a formula. Include in it some factor.