Skip to main content

questions of desirable rather than survivable

Articles such as–"what will work look like in 2030?"—are constantly being posed in public: e.g. "What will education look like in...?", what will this organization look like...?", "what will healthcare look like...?", "what will conflict look like in...?" etc. etc. If it were possible to answer such questions by predicting or making trend assessments and projections there would be no alternative to do anything but try to get very good at adaption and survival (antifragile,  resilient, etc).

Certainly some things cannot be modified or changed in the environment–such as the effects of natural laws–but the questions that ought to be posed for contexts and particulars that can be changed should focus on "what would be desirable in...?", "what ought to become a reality in...?", "what needs to become a reality in...?" etc. In other words, we should be asking design questions that are actionable rather than merely asking questions that are only reaction-able.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Design, Wicked Problems & Throwness

Horst Rittel is one of the seminal residents in my 'Berkeley Bubble'. Recently a friend and colleague sent me an article about ‘double-wickedproblems’ . I have become ever more aware of the increasing number of references to ‘wicked problems’ in all forms of media that seem to have missed Rittel’s deeper insights . This brought up the concern I have about the use and miss-use of the term ‘wicked problem’.  The term ‘wicked problem’, first introduced by Rittel in West Churchman’s seminars at Berkeley, was in reference to his conceptualization of the impossible challenge of dealing with significant social issues using traditional, rational, ‘problem solving’ methods. In most cases what are miss-diangnosed as ‘wicked problems’ are actually complex or complicated problems that can be simplified or broken into smaller 'tame' problems allowing for a straight forward 'problem solving' approach to be taken. This approach is believed by many to be capable...
8 comments
Read more

educational trends

  As I work on starting a new school in 'systemic design' I have discovered that the trends against serious professional and scholarly endeavors are quite real—an extension of the American anti-intellectualism that fuels some of the political agendas in the US nowadays—probably not the best time to try something like creating a new educational experience. Still... This substack by Ted Gioia is an example of some of the trends against investing in serious educational/professional ventures: https://lnkd.in/gxSbniAg The challenge is to find those who do not want to participate in these trends. Gioia and others claim that they are out there. I believe that to be true. The question is how to network with them. They do not, by definition, reside in echo chambers.
Post a Comment
Read more

Critical Systems Thinking

 Michal C Jackson is a leading scholar in systems thinking, particularly Critical Systems Thinking . This video is highly recommended for those who have a serious interest in systems thinking. Critical Systems Thinking Michael C Jackson   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyOUlTmwel8
Post a Comment
Read more