REPLY SD Impact on National Government Policies (SD6164)

[System Dynamics Mailing List]

Posted by  Adrian Boucher <adrian at infometrics.go-plus.net>

Dear Colleagues

I am so pleased to see this topic being given an airing.

We have a Government over here [UK] that proclaimed (among other things 
that failed to come to fruition) that it was into, "joined-up thinking".

"Aha!", I thought.  This must mean that they will be attempting to recognise 
the fact that "everything is connected to everything else, and so we shall 
see some evidence of a willingness to think systemtically."

How wrong could I be?  Hardly a day passes but we see examples of standard 
SD / Senge  archetypes being addresses through the application of bandaid 
over haemorrhages in:

EDUCATION (SCHOOLS)
ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR
PUBLIC HEALTH
NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE
AFGHANISTAN
IRAQ
LEGAL SYSTEM
UNIVERSITIES
DEFENCE  ... etc. etc.

The Law of Unintended Consequences is alive and well and living in Britain, 
whilst Nero fiddles and Rome burns.  PLease forgive mixed metaphors, but my 
blood pressure is rising rapidly.  However, I have a relatively valid SD model 
that will explain to me the consequences of allowing it to do so.

I really think the SD community needs to bring to the wider attention of 
Governments at all levels, Professor Jay Forrester's seminal article, "The 
Counterintutive Behavior of Social Systems", 
http://web.mit.edu/sdg/www/D-4468-2.Counterintuitive.pdf

This should be compulsory reading for all who would enter politics, public 
service education and business.

Kind regards

Every good wish.


Adrian 
Posted by  Adrian Boucher <adrian at infometrics.go-plus.net>
posting date  Mon, 8 Jan 2007 17:18:24 +0000