Bits and Pieces – March 2009

Some of these links come from the usual blogs that I read, others from my first month of using Google Alerts  to see what else is out there in the blogosphere on “systems thinking,” although it’s not always used in the same sense from one mention to another. I’d like to expand my reach a litte, adding some more terms, maybe even come up with a neat name and create a blog carnival…

In the meantime, these are some articles related to thinking towards the whole that might intrigue you.

Katie Konrath turned an idea on its head by looking at a solution given to her from another perspective. I’m tempted to try it for myself.

Willem van den Ende advocates how for a systems approach to work in a business it needs to include everyone. It can’t be isolated in management, but needs to involve the line workers and be implemented from the bottom-up.

When confronted with conflicting reports do you try to figure out who is lying or look at the range of possibilities. One HR situation is suggested in Systems vs. Individual Thinking.

The Economy as a System is long and rambling and I don’t agree with all of it, but one worthwhile point is that systems thinking is a fallacy if it suggests that we should be able to understand everything. Max claims that it is arrogant to believe we know how to fix the problems caused by human fallibility, yet I believe that we have to try. 

Another very very long piece is a piece by George Mobus that he had intended to use as a proposal to put in a BA and BS in Systems Science at the University of Washington, Tacoma, before budget cuts. I’ve pulled out a few parts of his argument below, in case you don’t want to go through the whole piece.

Essentially he says that the educational system tends to teach facts, not how to make interconnections. Systems thinking concepts and principles are applicable to all domains of knowledge, beyond the computer science he teaches. We have some intuitive understanding of systems, but cannot apply that understanding fully without disciplined study. He had hoped to train a generation of adults that would have caught things like the financial crisis, but now feels like it is too late. I disagree. Life goes on and there are complexities yet to face.

Mark Cuban thinks beyond the obvious here, looking for some potential long-range implications. Not all the commenters agree with his conclusions, but how he thinks through it is worth reading.

My final suggestion is Paul Barsch’s article on lessons learned from one of the causes of the financial crisis, a blind faith in models. His conclusion is worth repeating.

For most complex challenges, there are no magic beans, there are no magic formulas. If you think you’ve finally discovered those magic beans—think of David X. Li, and consider going back to the drawing board.