March 16, 2009

The current economic crisis blindsided most lenders, borrowers, and regulators. Unless we fully understand and address the dynamics that led to the crisis, even further economic disruption is likely. Examine the systemic causes of the crisis and their implications for business and political leaders in “A Systems View of the Economic Crisis” in the topical issues section of the AST Resource Library.

February 14, 2008

People often think of systems thinking as a strictly analytical approach to solving complex problems. However, solving complex organizational problems depends on the strong support of decision-makers to think and act differently. This in turn requires building a strong foundation for organizational change before applying the technical tools of systems thinking. You can learn more about how to build this foundation by going to “Building the Foundation for Change” in the leveraging change section of the AST Resource Library.

December 26, 2007

In our last journal entry we identified the unintended addictive tendencies of political leaders to solutions that perpetuate instead of solve chronic, complex social problems. This month we introduce an analysis of the United States’ growing prison population and often unsuccessful efforts to help ex-offenders integrate back into society. The analysis sponsored by the Open Society Institute (www.soros.org) concluded that one high potential area for intervention is in reducing our fears of not only being a victim of violent crime, but also of poor young people of color who make up such a high percentage of people in prisons. These findings are detailed in the new report, “Facilitating Reentry of Formerly Incarcerated People: A Systemic Approach” in the topical issues section of the AST Resource Library.

October 7, 2007

In recent work with such chronic, complex social problems as homelessness and recidivism among released prisoners, we have noticed an interesting trend: Political leaders who seek to assist drug addicts in living productive lives often become addicted to policies that increase the very problem they are trying to solve. For example, the well-intentioned policy of providing temporary shelters for people who are homeless can undermine the development of permanent, supportive housing by reducing visibility of the homelessness problem and diverting funds away from a more lasting solution. "Get tough" sentencing for drug users can lead to further marginalization of ex-offenders when they are released, making it even more difficult for them to overcome their problems and lead productive lives. These findings will be detailed in upcoming reports in the topical issues section of the AST Resource Library.

September 7, 2007

Crisis management or firefighting typically overwhelms time spent on developing and implementing strategy. For example, the internal R&D group of a major health care chain that was responsible for introducing new information technology asked "Why do we spend so much time fixing software bugs and fending off additional demands from our customers?" The group learned that its very tendency to raise expectations of customers about the potential of its products kept it in firefighting mode (for a fuller description of the case, go to Marilyn Paul and David Peter Stroh, "Managing Your Time As Leader".

Another study of new product development organizations revealed that conceptual activity required to plan new releases is often displaced by requirements to solve problems in the current release. Moreover, the study suggests that a one-year increase in workload of 25% can permanently put an organization into firefighting mode! To learn more about how to reduce firefighting, you are invited to attend a workshop, "Only You Can Prevent Firefighting", at the 17th annual Pegasus Conference in Seattle November 5-7, 2007.

The Rich Get Richer...

Describes the dynamics underlying this persistent and growing problem, and substantiates the importance of empowering poor people through giving them more control over the factors of production. Download the PDF.

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