[ssf] complex systems

[adam bashid]

     "We know that
      terrorist attacks are not caused by the use of strength,
      they are invited by the perception of weakness ...

      We know that
      if we leave Iraq before the mission is completed,
      the enemy is going to come after us,"

      -- Cheney said
         in a speech aboard the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier
         at Yokosuka Navy Base near Tokyo. [1]


   'The apparent need
    to choose between short and long-term success
    is itself conditioned upon
    the mechanical model of reality.

    In Senge’s explanation,

    "There is a fundamental mismatch
     between the nature of reality in complex systems
     and our predominant ways of thinking about that reality.

     The first step in correcting that mismatch
     is to let go of the notion
     that cause and effect are close in time and space."

    From a systemic viewpoint,
    short and long-term success
    are part of the same interconnected process.

    Even more,
    systemic change can often be effected through small,
    well-focused actions
    which have a short-term ''leverage''
    much greater than a linear activity.

     For example, a sales organization may be performing poorly
     because of what looks like
     an inability to close sales effectively.

      A linear solution would be
      to invest in a costly sales training process
      over the course of a year
      which focuses on the ability of the salespeople
      to close a sale
      by increasing pressure
      on the decision-making process of the customer. [2]


      "And I want you to know that
       the American people will not support a policy of retreat,

       We want to complete the mission,
       we want to get it done right,
       and we want to return with honor,"

       -- said Cheney,
          who heads on Thursday
          for Australia
          to meet Prime Minister
          John Howard,
          another backer of Bush's Iraq policy. [1]


     A systemic analysis, however,
     might show that the sales force is failing
     exactly because its product sales approach
     rewards salespeople who pressure the customer
     into quick sales
     for short-term profits and commission --

       something the customers resent
       and because of which they decide not to buy,
       or to buy only to back out of the contract
       before it becomes legally binding. [2]


      'Winding up, Fitzgerald aimed at the entire Bush crew.

        "There's a cloud over the White House as to what happened"
         ... in the leak affair, he told the jury.

        There were questions as to whether the law was broken
        when Valerie Wilson's CIA cover was blown
        and "what role the defendant played ...
             what role the vice president played."

       Looking straight at the jury, Fitzgerald asked,

        "Don't you think the FBI and the grand jury
         is entitled to straight answers."

        Instead, he said,
        Libby made up a story and obstructed justice.

        Echoing Wells' last lines,
        Fitzgerald declared of Libby,

        "He stole the truth from the judicial system.
         Give truth back." [3]

--
[1] http://tinyurl.com/2lc6wv

[2]

http://www.tomklein.de/pdf/ChangeManagement-SixthWaveCompetence.pdf

[3] http://www.thenation.com/blogs/capitalgames?pid=167836