© 2008 PEGASUS COMMUNICATIONS 781.398.9700 THE SYSTEMS THINKER
®
NOVEMBER 2008
3
ing a wider dialogue and practice, andto build our capacity to cope in thesetimes.
Systemic Solutions
There are many different understand-ings of what it means to think or act“systemically.” For years, I used theword “systemic” because it soundedright, without having a clear picture inmy mind of what it meant. I knew thatit had to do with seeing connectionsand relationships, addressing rootcauses, and shifting our way of think-ing. I didn’t really know how torecognize a “systemic solution” when Isaw one.As my colleagues and I in SouthAfrica started to work on high-stakesprojects with multistakeholder groups,challenging them to come up with“sys-temic solutions,”we had to get specificabout what that meant.On that journey,we encountered Elisabeth Dostal,co-author of
Biomatrix:A Systems Approachto Organisational and Societal Change
(African Sun Press,2003),whose life hasbeen about applying systems thinking tocomplex social problems like povertyand unemployment.As we engagedwith Elisabeth and with each other around the deeper meaning of our work,we started to see the following:
Systemic Solutions Shift Logic.
Theychange some of the underlying think-ing that is producing the problem situ-ation, thus going to the source of theproblem.As a result, systemic solutionsaim at problem-
dissolving
, as opposed toproblem-
solving
(which tries to “fix” aproblem within a current logic).This is,I suppose, what Einstein was also try-ing to communicate: that the logic of the solution is not the same as thelogic of the problem.
Systemic SolutionsWork on MultipleDimensions and Levels.
Because com-plex problems are produced by manycauses, systemic solutions have to workon multiple dimensions (for example,technological, economic, and cultural)and levels (for example, global, societal,organizational, individual, and internal).These approaches embrace paradoxesand look for
both/and
instead of
either/or.
As an example, it is futile todiscuss whether AIDS is ahealth problem or a povertyproblem; it is both andrequires solutions workingon both these dimensions(and many others).
Systemic Solutions HarnessSynergies.
One of the coreideas of systems thinking isthat “the whole is morethan the sum of the parts.”Systems display
emergent
properties that are unpre-dictable outcomes of theinterplay between their parts, the relationshipsbetween their parts, their context, and what couldbe called their identity.Emergent properties can beeither
synergistic
(more than the sum of the parts, with the parts reinforcingeach other positively) or
dissynergistic
(less than the sum of the parts, withthe parts undermining each other,leading to a dysfunctional whole). Ide-ally, a systemic solution shifts some of the “vicious” cycles among causal fac-tors to “virtuous” cycles.
Systemic Solutions Are Iterative.
Because cause and effect are so com-plex in these big messy problem situa-tions, we can’t predict all the outcomesof an intervention with certainty (Rus-sell Ackoff coined the term “mess” as itrelates to major complex societal prob-lems).This means that we can’t com-pletely separate planning fromimplementation. Rather, there has tobe a constant communication and iter-ation between our
conceptual reality
and
physical reality.
We need to work on re-perceiving and rethinking the situationat the level of the whole (shifting con-ceptual reality), and then act on thisbasis in physical reality at the locallevel.Then we need to attentivelyobserve what is happening, or emerg-ing, in the physical reality and consider whether it has implications for chang-ing our thinking.
Talking Across Sectors
To act more on the level of “whole”problems and “whole” systems, wemust get together with people who arebased in a different part of that whole.We need to get better at talking toeach other across sectors and at work-ing in partnership where necessary.How we do so effectively is a vasttopic. For the purposes of this article,I’ve chosen to focus on four importantprinciples that stand out in reflectingon our recent practice in South Africa:
•
Becoming self-aware as sectors,
•
Understanding complementarities,
•
Iterating within microcosms, and
•
Seeing the system in the room.
Becoming Self-Aware as Sectors.
Oneof the biggest reasons cross-sector col-laboration is difficult is because sectorshave different logics, values, priorities,and comfort zones, in short, differentcultures. People seldom invest inunderstanding these different identities,even though it is an integral part of cross-sector partnership efforts.Theyfail to give attention to the need for the cross-sector system to self-reflectand create a healthy foundation for itswork together.My favorite university course wasan interdisciplinary one on interna-tional development. For a year, Iworked in a team composed of a biol-ogist, a geographer, an engineer, ahumanities student, and myself—apolitical science student. Our joint taskwas to study development and to writea paper about shrimp-farming inBangladesh.The real genius of the
ClimateChangeFoodShortagesss
R
Useof BiofuelsCarbonEmissionsDeforestationsss
INTERLINKED PROBLEMS
The prospect of climate change increases use of biofuels whichleads to food shortages which lead to increased deforestationwhich in turn compounds carbon emissions and increases climatechange.
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