A couple of months back, I wrote in this newsletter about complex systems and discussed the work of the late Donella Meadows.
I got a great response from readers, so thought it might be helpful this month to look beyond simply recognising and understanding complex systems to thinking about how to make them work better.
As you'd expect, there are numerous places in which we can intervene in a system. In her book, Thinking in systems, Donella identifies twelve main 'leverage points'. But, as she is at pains to point out, they're not all created equal.
To start with (and don't worry, I'm not going to go through all twelve), we can change some of the numbers or other parameters within the system. Chancellors of the Exchequer love to juggle around with tax rates and thresholds, for example.
Donella's not a fan of this sort of thing, though. She likens tweaking the parameters within a system to rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. And she's probably not wrong. You might technically change the system, but you won't change it very much or in an overly meaningful way.
We can also play around with the stocks within the system. We can create financial or resource buffers, for instance, to reduce the impact of shocks. Like when everyone stockpiled loo rolls. And in volatile times, this can be a fairly sensible idea. Or, at least, understandable. But we're not really changing the system as such.
There's a lot we can do with feedback loops, too. We can speed them up, so that we're able to react more quickly when circumstances change. (If you've read Donella's book, you'll know that she was a big fan of rapid feedback.) We also can strengthen such loops, so that they have a more marked effect. Or we can weaken them, so that their impact is less harsh.
Thinking more drastically, we can tinker around with the actual structure of the system. This sort of thing sits better with Donella, as we're now doing something that's likely to make a real difference. So we can add new elements to the system or remove bits that don't work. We can formulate new or modified rules for the operation of the system. Or we can create new or better information flows.
These can all make a given system work a bit better. But sometimes we need more than that. Sometimes we need to overhaul radically the whole thing. Or we need to throw it out and start again. And for this, Donella thinks we need to bring out the big guns.
Our first option here is to change the purpose or function of the system. A commercial organisation might, for example, have as its purpose to generate a financial return for its shareholders.
But what if, instead, it decided that its purpose was to solve the conundrum of food poverty? Or to create some other value for society as a whole? Easier said than done, of course, but one hell of a way to change things up.
Our second option, says Donella, is to change the paradigm or mindset that gave rise to the system in the first place. Our tax system, for example, is based on a series of rules. And if you're smart (or rich) enough, you can easily find (totally legal) ways around many of them. But the mindset is that, as long as you stick to the letter of the rules, that's OK.
What, though, if we could change that paradigm - perhaps by pointing out the obvious flaws in the current system and demonstrating the value of a new way of doing things - so that the focus was more on everyone paying their fair share? Or create a mindset where people want to pay tax because it's how we fund essential public services and care for those who are less fortunate than we are?
Hopelessly idealistic, for sure. But perhaps not totally out of the question one day.
Our third option, and top of Donella's list of ways to change a system, goes even further, though. Because for this she calls on us to transcend paradigms entirely.
We need to recognise, she says, that there is no single 'true' paradigm for any particular system. We simply create a suitable paradigm - a set of assumptions and beliefs - to help us to get out heads around things.
Once we acknowledge that we're not actually bound by this, or any other, paradigm, we unlock our ability to drive real, positive and permanent change. Some may call this enlightenment. Others may call it 'sticking it to the man'. Donella calls it radical empowerment.
Whatever you call it, it's certainly a powerful thing.
Until next time,
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Simon Perks
Director, Sockmonkey Consulting
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