Systems Thinking Is Critical in Developing Solutions to Sustainability Challenges - Essay Example

Name Tutor Course Institution Date Introduction The main pressing policy challenges for the government include addressing very complex policy issues. The high complexity level of these policy problems has led them to be called wicked problems. In this context, the word wicked is used to refer to a problem that is extremely resistant to resolution; it doesn’t mean evil. Examples of wicked problems include climate change, obesity, overfishing and indigenous disadvantage. Wicked problems challenge the governing structures, the skills base and the organizational capacity of the government (Clarke and Stewart, 1997). Successful resolution or even just controlling these wicked problems depends on re-evaluation of a number of the conventional ways of operational and solving problems in the country. It needs a wider recognition and understanding of the fact that there are no simple solutions and quick fixes. Solving wicked problem is an emerging art. System thinking plays a significant role in tackling wicked problems (Roberts, 2000). This paper will draw on climate change to demonstrate that systems’ thinking is critical in developing solutions to sustainability challenges. It will discuss factors such as behaviour change, effective working across organizational boundaries, supportive structures and skill-base, accountability frameworks and citizens’ and stakeholders involvement in problem solving. The present debate as regard the factors causing climate change and its solutions illustrates most of the features of wicked problems. The world’s climate is made up of subsystems such as the ocean, the atmosphere, the land and human beings. These systems interact to cause climate change, hence making it a complex problem. Almost all human activities are assumed to affect the climate, including traveling, cooking, and making books among others. Climate change also tend to affect every aspect of our lives as it jeopardizes our access to clean water, national security, our health, food’s prices and economic opportunity for the future generation. The prevailing structural inequalities, especially between countries, have led to increasingly unsustainable patterns of production and consumption. Hence, an urgent major change of political institutions as well as unsustainable lifestyles is the solution. Decision-making should be devolved to the local levels and citizens should radically make simpler their lifestyles to preserve the resources of the earth. Poor governance and planning of global markets is to blame for the deteriorating environment. The effort of an individual, a single household, an organization, or a country cannot make any significant contribution when it comes to tackling the problem of climate change (Walker and Salt, 2006). Resolving climate change would need all governments to officially agree on the level to which emissions must be reduced and the method to be used. Consequently, governments would impose these formal interstate agreements on the horde of unobservant consumers and produces in their boundaries. Poor global planning and poor diagnosis of climate change, whereby others are convinced that the effects of climate change will not be negative or catastrophic. The solution to climate change lies in technological advancement, adaptation as well as dynamic markets (Weinberg, 2000). It has been difficult for individuals to agree on the major factors that cause the wicked problem of global climate change as well as come to an agreement on the solutions to this problem. Egalitarian structures, hierarchical bureaucracies and markets ae to be held accountable for this lack of agreement as they tend to make people resistant to enlightenment by proven facts (Clarke and Stewart, 1997). Therefore, policy makes need to come up with a dynamic, inclusive and argumentative structure of dealing with the issue of climate change. A good example is the greenhouse gases issue. To tackle this problem, there must be general agreement among all government’s levels and private businesses on the magnitude of the issue as well as the nature of the inclusive strategy that require to be executed to effectively deal with it. The development of democracy, markets, globalization, travel as well as social exchanges have emphasized value differences, weakened traditional regulation measures and authority and promoted disagreements instead of consensus in the process of solving policy problems. Wicked problems require thinking which is able to grasp the bigger picture as well as the interdependence among the wide variety of underlying factors causing them. Often, wicked problems need inclusive, more collaborative and forward-thinking approaches and hence may require policy adjustment. The government needs to effectively engage all stakeholders and residents in understanding the pertinent issues and including them in coming up with likely solutions. Successful tackling of wicked problems often requires a variety of synchronised and interconnected responses due to their multi-causal characteristic. Moreover, it usually requires trade-offs between conflicting objectives (Conklin, 2006). Often, attempts to solve wicked problems lead to unexpected consequences, given their multi-causal characteristic and many interrelationships to other problems. Thus, the strategies developed to deal with these problems result in unforeseen consequences elsewhere. A number of these consequences can be very damaging (Sterman, 2011). For example, it has been claimed that the effectiveness of strategies designed to decrease atmospheric pollution in America and Western Europe can be partly blamed for the apparent rise in global warming because of the effect of decrease in sulphur atoms that are critical in forming cloud which absorb heat in the air. Wicked problems as well as the factors involved in understanding them are constantly changing and hence policy makers need to focus on a flexible objective (Gundersson and Holling, 2002). Most current problem-tackling strategies are often challenged by the social complexity of wicked problems. Policy makers should to understand that resolutions to wicked problems need coordinated action from a range of stakeholders, such as government agencies at the local, state and federal levels, non-profit organizations, citizens and private businesses. Wicked problems cannot be effectively addressed by a single organization. For example, it is clear that environmental problems cannot be successfully dealt with at one single level of government. Environmental issues need effort at all levels, including at the international level, community level and individual level (Bentley and Wilsdon, 2003). The traditional methods used to solve wicked problems, including legislation, taxes, fines, taxes and other sanction may not be that effective. Successful tackling of wicked problems involves behaviour change as well as gaining the devotion of citizens. More innovative, individualized strategies are critical to motivating individuals to actively collaborate in attaining sustainable behavioural change (Dickerson, Torres, Canet, Smiciklas, Faulkner, Bueti, and Vassiliev, 2010). Wicked problems cannot be effectively tackled using traditional methods as traditional problem-solving thinking suggests a systematic and linear process as the best method to deal with these problems. This process involves working from the problem to the solution and hence it usually begins with understanding and describing the problem. This entails collecting and analysing information and other evidence as well as consulting with stakeholders. The best strategy is determined after identifying and analysing evidence and the views of stakeholders. This process also involves determining the outcomes, outputs and performance targets as well as designing implementation plans. Traditionalists believe that the more the problem is complex the more critical it is to adhere to this orderly flow (Clarke and Stewart, 1997). This linear, traditional method to problem-solving is not a sufficient way to deal with wicked problems as the wickedness of a problem lies in the relationships between causal factors, differing policy goals and lack of agreement over the best approach. Linear thinking is not adequate to include such interactivity and ambiguity. The complexity of wicked policy problems also makes a linear approach inadequate. For example, focusing on renewable energy as the single solution to climate change problem is a big joke. In reality, a better understanding of a problem basically requires the view of several organizations and stakeholders. Moreover, any package of measures developed as a likely solution usually requires the participation, devotion and coordination of many organizations and stakeholders for successful implementation (Meadows, 2008). The solving of wicked problems needs systems, holistic approach instead of linear thinking. Example of holistic approach to dealing with the problem of climate change includes waste, water, energy and land use strategies. Wicked problems will continue being a danger to the society as long as they are being handled using a narrow approach. A traditional bureaucracy method, whereby only those at the top have the power of handling problems, is not well-suited to support the types of process fundamental for dealing with the ambiguity and complexity of wicked problems. Bureaucracies are not tolerant to messy processes and are averse to risk. They are good in handling problems with clear boundaries but not ambiguous, complex problems which need experimental and innovative strategies. Thus, to succeed in tackling wicked problems, the government need to implement more systematic strategies to social innovation rather than the present rather ad hoc strategy. Government agencies or departments need to appoint a board level director in charge of innovation and set aside noteworthy budgets for innovation (Mulgan, 2006). Public service organizations need to be more flexible and adaptive when tacking wicked problems. This involves blurring the old distinction between strategy development and plan implementation. Strategy development and evolution require being well-versed with on-the-ground intelligence as regard operational issues as well as the perspectives of service users so as to know what can work and what cant to be able to modify their feedback. Strategy evaluations play a significant role in this case. System design need to be iterative as evidence shows that implementation is hardly a one-off undertaking: it is a more rounded process entailing continuous learning, reworking and improvement (Mulgan and Lee, 2001). Effective solving of wicked problems requires the capacity to operate across agency boundaries. This is because wicked problems are beyond the ability of any single organization to comprehend and handle them. Thus, the government need to work in a decentralised way with the private sectors and the community. The government need to embrace a team-based strategy to tackling the wicked problems prevalent in this 21st century. For the government to be able to work across agency boundaries it needs to develop supportive structures, culture and expertise base. Appropriate structures are necessary for the support of the entire government work. Such structures need to be aligned with the task. A committed Taskforce under powerful leadership and operating directly to a senior Minister with deep contention between portfolios can produce good outcomes compared to a standard interdepartmental committee (Sterman, 2012). The capacity to handle the social complexity associated with wicked problems needs a wide range of skills. The traditional systematic, theoretical and project management abilities are not sufficient for policy making and implementation. Solving of wicked problems calls for people with great connections skills so that they can be able to create relationships across the commercial sector, public and public sector and influence these relationships to develop systems of mutual benefit. Organisations agencies can obtain this variety of skills through enlistment, contracted labor, outsourcing specific analysis, formal education programmes and motivating personnel to assume a pertinent variety of work to increase their experience. It is also critical for the government to develop systems and processes to support endorsement for proper local policymaking and education opportunities for managers in skills appropriate for entire government tasks, including influencing and communication skills as well as relationship management. A multidisciplinary team strategy is key to garnering all the necessary skills for solving the problem of climate change (Booth, 2010). Successful working across organisations also requires better information-sharing and structures strategies to the gathering and sharing of data. This involves continuing the development towards the implementation of common information rules, principles and protocols across organization agencies to enhance interoperability. Good budget and accountability structures also function in enabling successful networking among organisations (Turner, 2008). Conclusion Solving wicked problems is the most pressing policy challenges facing the government. Wicked problems are marked by social complexity, whereby organizations, stakeholders and experts often differ as regard their causes and the best approach to deal with them. Achieving sustained behavioural change is the key to solving many wicked problems. Successful tackling of wicked problems requires holistic thinking, innovative and flexible strategies, the capacity to work across organization boundaries, effectively involving stakeholders and individuals in identifying and solving the problems, a supportive skill-base, behavioural change, an inclusive approach, tolerating uncertainty and understanding the importance of a long-term focus and developing accountability frameworks. Bibliography Bentley, T. and J. Wilsdon, J. 2003. ‘Introduction: The Adaptive State’, in T. Bentley and J. Wilsdon (eds), The Adaptive State— Strategies for Personalising the Public Realm, Demos, London, p. 26. Booth Sweeney L. 2010. The systems thinking playbook: Exercises to Stretch and Build Learning and Systems Thinking Capabilities. Chelsea Green Publishing. Clarke, M. and Stewart, J. 1997. ‘Handling the Wicked Issues—A Challenge for Government’ (University of Birmingham, School of Public Policy Discussion Paper), University of Birmingham, p. 4. 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