Expedience or Effectivness
December 13, 2015 by marcpierson
Russell Ackoff along with Aristotle claim that the components noted in this diagram are the necessary and sufficient components or aspects of every social system. (see prior post)
I suggest that design directionality matters a lot if we care what kind of social systems and business institutions result from the interactions among these parts.
It seems that the quickest way to solve a business problem is to start in the middle and move outward, using our “power-over-others” until the immediate problem is solved. However, if we want the most effective solution for all of the participants, we are better off starting our problem solving from the outer domain and moving inward, designing into the economic/business solution the larger contexts.
In this way we embed the culture, values, wisdom and cooperation (power-with-others) of the society into the business and its products. That should be a long term competitive advantage over those relying on the more common power-over-others, quick fix approach.
Of course the more inclusive and participatory approach requires more experience, wisdom and skill to orchestrate than a command and control solution does.
