A Systems View
"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."
Albert Einstein
Let's face it. The world is in a mess—largely one of our own making. This hardly requires documentation, but if we are going to work together to make the world a better place for everyone, we must face the world as it is.
Here are some of the significant problems we face, many of which can legitimately be described as crises:
- Global Warming
- Resource Depletion
- Environmental Degredation
- Species Extinction
- International Terrorism
- Wars/conflicts between Nations
- Energy
- Poverty
- Homelessness
- Hunger
- Healthcare
- Failing Schools
- Teenage Mothers
- Immigration
- Drug Addiction
- Etc.
When you study each of these problems, you begin to see that none of them exists in complete isolation. Each interacts with other problems and is therefore part of a set of interrelated problems, a system of problems.
Russell Ackoff, a leading systems thinker, has used the term mess to refer to such a system of problems. To deal with our mess we need to learn how to think effectively about it. We believe systems thinking offers the best prospects for understanding and managing our mess.
Systems thinking is wholistic thinking—focusing on wholes rather than parts. Systems thinking takes account of interconnectedness and so is more synthetical than analytical. You don't have to be a Ph.D. in physics to be a systems thinker. The wisest people throughout history, in all cultures, have been systems thinkers.
As Chief Seattle expressed it in 1854, "Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect."
We believe the mess we've created is causing a decline in the quality of life for everyone. If you were lucky enough to be born into a wealthy, developed country such as the United States, you may have been able to insulate yourself from many of the crises mentioned above. However, modern technology makes it increasingly clear that if any of us are to enjoy a high quality of life in the future, we must work to make it possible for everyone. Technology is teaching us, we are our brother's keeper.
Take a look at a personal view.
Here's how we can change the world for the better.
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