Kalle reflects on crazy narrow perspective in the societal discourse
Narrow Perspectives behind Bizarre arguments and Actions
Takeaway for leaders at all levels:
Today, political and business decisions are often based on dangerously narrow perspectives—focused on isolated details in the immediate moment. We have become accustomed to proposals anchored in short-term specifics rather than in strategic planning. “Details” (reductionism), “What the economy says about those details” (economics), and “What people vote for” (politics) often override what science says about neglecting—or endorsing—basic and robust principles of strategic redesign.
The system we plan within
Civilization within nature is structured as a system of details within an evolutionary perspective. A wise strategist understands how to manage details in the short term—but never at the expense of innovative pathways toward goals that are scalable over time and space. (Read more about the operative system FSSD.)
Loosing sight of the System
Despite this, influential figures in politics and business increasingly sweep rationality and systemic perspectives under the rug, inventing contradictory arguments to justify what is economically, ecologically, and socially impossible—at exploding costs toward futures that cannot be.
A Few Examples
Smart strategists start from the global systemic perspective (civilization and nature are being degraded), and let this inform the systematic perspective (organizations guided by step-by-step investments toward goals that do not contribute to that destruction), and the strategic perspective (steppingstones designed so that profitability increases from the outset). (Again, see the FSSD.)
Leaders who think this way cannot fail to notice how today’s rhetoric shifts among influencers who view reality through a straw in time and space. Remember the energy debate just a few years ago? Renewable power was considered naïve and too expensive compared to power from fossil fuels, though design science had proven the opposite in theory and practice since many decades. Today, only a few years later, the argument is that renewable power is too cheap—because some investors see reduced ROI as a bad idea. From “too expensive” to “too cheap”—science overrided by shaky economics from opposite sides of the same road to nowhere.
Economies and business models that serve organizations and civilization are already under development. They include innovative ways to store energy, diversify sources beyond solar panels and wind, and enable regions, organizations and private persons to produce their own cheap power. Solutions with the lowest cost per utility naturally favor the whole system, if planning and economy walks strategically hand in hand. Goals and strategies before means—the horse before the cart.
Or consider steelmaking. Future reduction of ore flows will not be driven by fossil fuel flows. Hydrogen produced from free-of-charge energy flows has huge potential. Yet some business journalists warn investors against committing capital—arguing that the EU’s green transition cannot be trusted because it ignores the “business perspective,” which supposedly rests on current “public opinion,” making EU politically “unreliable.” A chain of flawed assumptions along a line of reasoning that fails basic logic.
In a recent TV interview, a business journalist was asked whether articles supporting this reasoning were sponsored. The answer: “Yes, but that’s no risk because sponsors want to read what’s right.” Followed by: “Do sponsors influence editorial content?”—with the reply: “Of course not.” Whether true or not is beside the point. The counter-question also rested on “money and details right now,” once again trumping science and evidence-based reasoning.
The Cost of Herd Mentality
This mainstream mentality already harms business and societies through escalating costs and missed opportunities—while the opposite is true for a growing number of strategic leaders. The worst consequences of this gap are yet to come.
For further perspectives
See more Reflections on: ‘Prisoner’s Dilemma’, ‘Investors’, ‘Shoal of Opinion Molder Fish’, ‘EU Directives’, ‘Annual Reporting’, ‘Elephants in the Economic Room’, ‘Systems Thinking vs. Details’—in fact, all of them.
The entire FSSD Global dialogue platform is about freeing ourselves from viewing “time and space” through a straw—and improving bottom lines from the beginning. Is this easier? Perhaps not—if we ignore our future fate. After all, it’s easier to move pieces in chess without caring about what “checkmate” means.
All hot topic Reflections are direct consequences of our Operative System.
For a deeper dive into the science behind the Operative System that informs all Reflections, see the peer-reviewed Open-Source paper with all its references: doi.org/10.1002/sd.3357. For the full title, see footnote below.
Or, for concluding reflections, practical insights and training, click on “Kalle Reflects” to see all reflections.
If you need any further advice, perhaps getting some further references, please send a question to us from the homepage.
