DP3: System thinking in Development

My previous chapters outlined the dimension of the problems which curb truly development in today’s society. Nowadays, it looks like a phase of transition: just to recall some facts, consider how the world is changing quickly with few developing countries closing the gap thanks to impressive economic growth; how somewhere else circumstances are not such favorable and the journey struggles to start; how population is exponentially increasing as well as the gap between the “haves” and the “not haves”. In western countries, a stagnant and looming internal economic scenario is accompanied by active international “participation”: international institutions, government agencies, programs and NGOs proliferate more and more in the attempt to compensate historical faults and help promoting a more fair, healthy and sustainable world.

Nonetheless, before advancing concrete actions targeted to address and improve society development, other factors should be considered in order to be effective in a global scale; those factors answer somehow the following questions: what will drive our actions?   What is the final aim of those actions? Which are the principles which lead decision making in development? Are they universally recognized? Does our principles and values match the destination principles, believes and values? Does our strategy help achieve the desired state, which fulfill the expectation of the most?

To help sustain my argument today and answer those questions, I will refer to a quite new practice of problem solving called system thinking:

a system is an entity which cannot be explained as just the sum of his part, but thanks to the bigger outcome (overall system behavior) risen from all the complex interactions between the components and between the components with the surroundings.

Therefore, we find a first distinction among:

the system as a whole;

the components;

the relations between them;

the surroundings;

According to this theory, every component of the system has a value, is meant to have a specific function for the system to work. They are apparently independent parts pursuing specific objectives, while in reality the myriad of interconnections make them highly interdependent and contributing to an overall common goal: the system development, the system evolution, the system continuance, the system success.

Another important assumption of such philosophy states that if one of more parts suffer an alteration, the whole system as well its behavior is likely to be affected.

It sounds like suggesting that if the wished state of the system is to be achieved and maintained, certain mechanisms should be protected and always respected.

After this brief introduction, basic conclusions appear evident for everyone:

• if we are about to deal with a system (whatever it is about) the rules of the games must be clear and well known, in order to attain a specific objective.
• The preferred outcome comes from the right balance of its components;
• An alteration in the system could lead to a dramatic change in the system’s behavior;

I like pretty much this theory because it can be applied for every planning process; from a very simplistic point of view, this is how our world basically works: a huge number of complex variables (organisms, or individuals for instance), which interact together and with the surrounding in order to sustain life and prosper (reproduce, attain quality of life etc.).

Let’s try to apply it in few development perspectives:

The vision of our society:

The classic view of our society (“mickey mouse model) was or is an economic-centered model, as society capital (for instance workforce, expertise) and environmental capital (natural resources) are supposed to be substitutable by financial capital (assets) making the last the most important.

Fortunately nowadays the wise economist should recognize that economy it totally dependent upon the society it wish to serve and at the same time, prosperity in society will eventually be achieved only if biosphere is healthy and can continue to provide vital services. Social fabric and natural resources cannot be substituted by financial capital.

From the system point of view we can affirm that, as economy is a subsystem in society, it will work properly when problems leading society to decline will be addressed; this is why instead of pursuing economic growth it will require to pursue human development first, while preserving and maintaining ecosystems’ functions.

Another example come up to my mind when thinking of the idea of partnership: every partner has a fundamental function for the partnership to work; Interactions between partners is what lead them to successful common results in order to better satisfy personal interests in the external world (surroundings). The personal interest should be secondary, overcame by the general interest which is the only assurance for the first to be achieved more satisfactorily. The partnership holds conflicts and tensions, but they can be disabled when a new “whole” is created, something more powerful that the sum of its parts.  Result, components, relations…in my vision they are expressed as development, people, dialogue.

The system thinking theory also affirms that apart from having an important value, every part is different and has a different function. Those differences united in a harmonic symbiosis help create a bigger unique.  This consideration led my reflection to the concept of diversity: our society has an amusing level of diversity inside; think about all the cultures, all the races, the believes, the difference between generations, the ones between places…our world is incredibly diversified.  The only very difference that should be leveled is the one referring to human rights, to equality of possibility, equal distribution of prosperity. So our action in this sense should protect diversity and enhance equity. Are our strategies of promoting development in this direction?

I believe they don’t. Our western-centered approach to development assumes that the “developing” population has nothing valuable to teach us. We feel entitled to go there, show them how economy should work, suggest our complex mechanisms, apply our way of management, transmit what education is for us, implementing our solutions. Has someone ever asked to the others directly affected by measures how the world should be? Even if western aptitude is changing, even if it recognizes the right of other to be and is trying to help them, our lack of humility, our self-centered world is undermining what usually boosts a system: diversity.

To conclude I attempt to gather in a few points the basic principles that system theory teaches us in term of development:

• Mutual benefits – Cooperation and symbiosis lead to better overall results than pursuing them alone.
• The whole – Development and Sustainability can be achieved only with the whole contribution of the world actors and people;
• System and subsystem – Economic development could eventually helps foster development but economic development is dependent on social development;
• Awareness – To improve development it is critical to know the reality in general, the truly reality of the places and cultures where the actions are implemented;
• Relations – Interactions are first between people than between organizations or institutions: dialogue is critical to understand the needs and help achieve them.
• Diversity – Differences in Cultures are a world’s strength, we need to treasure them and use it to learn each other, while promoting social equity.
• Local solutions, global behavior – Aid, programs and actions in the developing world should not aim to bring solutions, but eliminate the barriers impeding the goal of sharing a common understanding of the problems, which enables every population to generate their own solutions.
• High interdependence – What it going wrong in a certain place, is strictly interrelated with situations occurring somewhere else even if appearances suggest differently.

Comments Off on DP3: System thinking in Development / 17 Dec 2011 por Francesco Mazzeo
IMSD /

Comentarios cerrados.