1-The Problem - what's working and what's not

The Problem: What’s Working and What's Not?

What’s Working

OK, before we throw out the baby with the bath water, let’s acknowledge the things that we HAVE gotten right. It’s not all bad news after all. For all the challenges we have in our lives and in the world overall, we simply have a zoom out a little over time to recognize the progress we ARE making.

Medicine

Travel

Information

Competition breed innovation

Reduced deaths at birth

Longevity

Hunger

Poverty

Technology – getting better services, smarter

Improvements for women, races

What’s Possible (Opportunity Cost)

Vision of an ideal world

A world context

Humans so capable – reaching for our “potential” – achieving what we’re capable of

Health

Love

Wellness

Acknowledgement

Contribution

Belonging

Yes, sadness, learning, death, etc.

Inoculating against corruption of information

Live your best life; make your contribution

Meaningful work with livable wage

One tribe

Vision: People living their best lives. Planet that works for ALL (humans, beings, life).

Self-actualization

Human transcendence

A means to Empower people to:

Understand what’s going on in a seemingly more complicated world and navigate it effectively

Feel a sense of agency and ability to influence outcomes in an increasingly dynamic and interactive world.

Transcend the limitations of how humans have come to think in the world and our notions of what’s possible – individually and collectively.

When we have understanding there is confidence – not that we can control it – but that we can have the capacity to navigate it – like a surfer rides a wave.

But more than simply navigating things out of our control, can we learn to influence them? When the “system” seems way bigger than our ability to affect it, the tendency is to give up and give in: to abandon the idea of self-determination.

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Systems Thinking / Leadership – Emphasizing leadership that integrates systems thinking for organizational and societal impact.

Complexity Thinking / Leadership – Understanding and working with complex, adaptive systems.

Holistic Thinking / Leadership – Emphasizing the interconnectedness of parts within a whole. Leading with a broad, interconnected perspective that considers all stakeholders.

Whole-systems Approach / Mindset – A broad perspective on problem-solving that accounts for all components of a system. Encouraging a perspective that values the entire system rather than isolated parts.

Interconnected Thinking – Recognizing how elements influence each other within a system.

Integrated Thinking / Leadsership – Used in business and leadership, emphasizing how different parts of an organization interact. A term used in corporate governance to describe decision-making that accounts for interconnected factors.

Benefits for Leaders

1. Better Decision-Making – Leaders who think systemically anticipate ripple effects, unintended consequences, and long-term impacts before taking action.

2. Stronger Problem-Solving– Instead of addressing symptoms, they identify and resolve root causes, leading to more sustainable solutions.

3. Improved Adaptability – They can navigate complexity and uncertainty by recognizing patterns and interdependencies.

4. Enhanced Strategic Thinking– They see beyond short-term goals and align efforts with long-term vision and purpose.

5. More Effective Collaboration– Understanding systems encourages cross-functional cooperation and breaking down silos.

6. Greater Innovation – Leaders who think in systems see opportunities for synergy and innovation that others miss.

7. Increased Resilience – By recognizing weak links and stress points in a system, leaders can design for flexibility and sustainability.

8. Ethical and Sustainable Leadership– A systemic view ensures decisions consider social, environmental, and economic factors holistically.

Benefits for Organizations

1. Higher Efficiency – Organizations operate more smoothly when people understand how their actions impact the whole system.

2. Stronger Collaboration – Teams work across departments more effectively, reducing conflicts and inefficiencies.

3. Improved Agility – A systems-aware culture allows organizations to adapt quickly to change and uncertainty.

4. Better Risk Management – Understanding system dynamics helps anticipate risks and design proactive strategies.

5. More Innovation and Creativity– Employees who see connections and patterns can generate breakthrough ideas.

6. Sustainable Growth – Organizations can design long-term strategies that avoid short-term fixes with negative future consequences.

7. Enhanced Customer and Stakeholder Satisfaction – A systems perspective ensures that all stakeholder needs are considered, improving trust and loyalty.

8. Reduced Waste and Redundancy– By streamlining processes and eliminating inefficiencies, organizations maximize value creation.

When everyone in an organization thinks systemically, it shifts from reactive problem-solving to proactive, intelligent design—creating a culture that thrives in complexity. Would you like examples of organizations that have successfully implemented this approach?

Here are a few examples of organizations that have successfully implemented systems thinking to drive innovation, efficiency, and sustainability:

1. Toyota – Lean Manufacturing & Continuous Improvement

How They Use Systems Thinking:

• Toyota’s Toyota Production System (TPS)is based on interconnected processes, continuous feedback loops, and efficiency.

• They use Kaizen (continuous improvement) and Just-in-Time production to minimize waste while maintaining quality.

• Employees at all levels are encouraged to think about how their work affects the whole system, leading to better collaboration and innovation.

Results:

• Increased productivity and reduced costs.

• A culture of continuous learning and adaptation.

• More resilient supply chain management.

2. Southwest Airlines – Systems Thinking in Customer Experience

How They Use Systems Thinking:

• Southwest designs operations holistically—aircraft turnaround times, employee engagement, and customer experience are all interconnected.

• They focus on point-to-point routing instead of traditional hub-and-spoke models, reducing delays and improving efficiency.

• Employee-first culture ensures staff engagement, which directly impacts customer satisfaction.

Results:

• Lower operational costs and high profitability.

• Industry-leading customer service and employee retention.

• Greater resilience during economic downturns.

3. Patagonia – Sustainability & Ethical Supply Chains

How They Use Systems Thinking:

• Patagonia considers the environmental and social impact of its entire supply chain, from raw material sourcing to product end-of-life.

• They invest in circular economy initiatives like Worn Wear (repair and resale programs).

• Employees and customers are engaged as stakeholders in sustainability efforts.

Results:

• Strong brand loyalty and customer trust.

• Reduced environmental impact while maintaining profitability.

• A business model that aligns with long-term sustainability rather than short-term gains.

4. Cleveland Clinic – Patient-Centered Healthcare

How They Use Systems Thinking:

• Instead of treating symptoms in isolation, Cleveland Clinic integrates specialists into care teams to address patient health holistically.

• They emphasize interdisciplinary collaboration between departments, reducing redundant procedures and improving patient outcomes.

• Performance is measured in terms of patient health, not just financial metrics.

Results:

• Improved patient satisfaction and outcomes.

• More efficient use of resources, lowering healthcare costs.

• A replicable model for value-based healthcare.

5. Unilever – Sustainable Growth & Regenerative Business

How They Use Systems Thinking:

• Unilever shifted from a profit-first mindset to a sustainability-driven approach with its Sustainable Living Plan.

• They focus on how their products impact global challenges like climate change, waste, and social inequality.

• Systems thinking is applied across operations, from sourcing raw materials to consumer education.

Results:

• Reduced environmental footprint while maintaining growth.

• Increased consumer trust and long-term profitability.

• Positioned as a leader in corporate sustainability.

Key Takeaways from These Companies

1. They don’t optimize in isolation—decisions are made with the whole system in mind.

2. They create feedback loops—so processes improve continuously.

3. They empower employees—ensuring everyone understands the impact of their work on the whole organization.

4. They design for resilience—anticipating and adapting to changes in the system.

Would you like to explore how to implement systems thinking in a specific type of organization or leadership role?

Not Working

As far as we can tell, we are the most sophisticated species on Earth. You wouldn't know it: if you were an alien visiting and witnessing our behavior, you'd be left scratching your head. For all our intellectual capacity, we don't seem to use it much. I'm being generous: for our capabilities, we are being just flat out morons. Again, we are not technically stupid - we have performed our own "lobotomy" and then forgotten we did so. We forget that we are the ones to bitch slap ourselves out of our own coma.

The good news is that no "part" of us has been removed or lost. We have all the faculties within us: right here, right now. We have but one challenge and, therefore, one major opportunity: to actually think for ourselves. That's it.

Easier said than done - literally easier, "said." Because words are barely a substitute for thoughts and can be so severely misinterpreted, that one's words and one's actions might lead us to think we all have some sort of split personality. In fact, we do! There is the "us" that is wise, emotional, spiritual, generous, kind, and open. It's the kind of love we have for our children and pets, but not for ourselves or each other. Wait, what? Perhaps we are just selfless. Nice try: more like completely shut down and resigned.

And this isn't just my "opinion." Take a look at all the motivational speakers and thought leaders we have known through the years: the Zig Ziglars, Les Browns, Tony Robbins, the Oprah Winfreys, you name it: there is no shortage of people offering their experience, hearts, and knowledge who sincerely want to help the plight of others who dutifully line up in auditoriums, purchase programs and books, in the hope of changing their circumstances. Here's the question: How's that going? For all the teachings - from all the great thinkers, writers, philosophers, artists, scientists, change agents, trainers, coaches - the lessons don’t seem to stick. Is it the teachers? Is it the students? Or something else?

For all the "wisdom" out there, we don't seem to be able to "hear" it. Or could something else be going on? We could just decide that we are insane and that's the reason for the gap. But hopeless idealist that I am, I look around and don't see insanity at all: I see laziness. And I'm "right" about that. Heck, I can be lazy! Doing work can be confronting, effortful, "hard." But being yourself shouldn't be. In fact, we work really hard to avoid being who we truly are. Now that's a predicament I can't understand. But there it is. Because, if we were being true to our own hearts, we would easily transcend our own smallness.

It's not entirely fair to blame laziness because there is one evolutionary trait that has worked for us even when it works against us: fear. And here is the "split" personality in a nutshell: we have different "parts" of us. It is the idea that "we" are some singular, consistently uniform entity is obviously not true. We have "good" days and "bad." We have bursts of courageous brilliance and we have moments of debilitating judgment and hate. We can be proactive leaders in one area of our lives and be disgruntled vigilantes in others. Clearly, "we" are not who and how we think we are. We are far more complex. Perhaps complex creatures deserve a more sophisticated approach than "quick fixes." Perhaps.

So what else is not working that could be an indication of root causes deeper than the surface symptoms we are treating? How about climate change? We know that it is real. We know that it is not good. We even "know" that it could destroy us and life on this planet. What sentient animal would knowingly ignore things that might lead to its destruction? Certainly, no animal that is still here because evolution would have weeded them out a long time ago.

We have lost faith in institutions. They have gotten too big and unwieldy or they have become stuck in the past and not evolved with the times. Change is happening so fast, or institutions can't adjust quickly enough. In a world of automatons, the manufacturing mindset of "Taylorism" works. But in the knowledge economy it is a hindrance.

The middle class being hollowed out. The "haves" beget more and the "have nots" are falling further behind in comparison. That's true for material goods like homes, money, resources but also true for nonmaterial issues such as technical knowledge: AI, for instance, will create a huge wedge in the door of haves and have nots.

Costs are increasing faster than incomes.

Unnecessary suffering – a waste of life and potential

It’s the audience, stupid. The dog and the finger.

Waste, environment, plastics, wars, weapons access and impact. We are destroying the Earth and natural systems. The petri dish is starting to fill with toxins.

Breakdown in community

Health care costs, access, insurance

Facts are no longer what we thought. Disinformation and misinformation is rampant and “news” no longer comes from reliable, reputable sources: people are spouting opinions and conspiracies as facts and

Breakdown in civility

Animal cruelty – we are AWFUL to creatures for food

Loneliness – mental health. Feel out of “control”

Overwhelm – communication has erased barriers and it is a global, fast-changing market.

Suffering – finding our place (belonging), finding passion / meaning, bring value, mattering, finding love, etc. We are lost in our own skin.

Social media – negatively affecting our view of ourselves (not good enough)

People don’t believe or can’t conceive when told they “made a difference.” It’s hard to “hear” as impactful or tangibly relatable. That’s a shame.

Can’t make decent living being “doing what you love.” Most people work to survive versus fulfill their life’s mission. I see dead people.

Drug abuse (opiods, etc.)

Agism – lack of connection between generations. Can’t even hear each other – different models

Terrorism, cyber threats, increasing reliance on internet (risk)

Destructive technologies are in the hands of many such that the worst could happen if we don’t learn to get on the same proverbial page together.

Language (based in physical)

Mental models (binary thinking, hierarchical, control, linear, local, self-centric)

Unnecessary Suffering

There is plenty of natural suffering: the death of a loved one, the loss a limb, a heart break, or even the flu. I’m not talking about that very real suffering.

I’m talking about the unnecessary, self-inflicted, destructive, suffering that severely – massively and tragically – destroys life and the experience of living. And I estimated it is the root cause of 99% of our problems on this planet.

What am I taking about?

Let’s just start with self-hatred. Humans are the only life form that I can tell who intentionally and violently throttled down its own life force. I don’t see dogs doing that to themselves, nor bees, nor plants. They just be. We are the only ones who are supposedly so “conscious” and the “most intelligent species on this planet” who self-denigrate, judge, doubt, physically and psychologically harm themselves. And for what purpose? Again: FOR WHAT PURPOSE? What value does it provide to defeat ourselves without cause or intent? In other words, it’s like an addiction: nobody is asking us to dislike ourselves: We do it quite willingly on our own. So, please join me in a collective round of WTF?!?!

Let me ask you: how much of your daily life involves some sense of not feeling “good enough” in some way? Somehow flawed and wishing you were some other way than you are: you’re not skinny enough, not pretty enough, not smart enough, not tall, funny, well-dressed, traveled, cultural, or rich enough. No matter who we be or what we do: it’s not up to par and you are somehow lesser than.

This is not some new revelation. Here’s is my point: for all the wisdom, therapy, psychology, inspirational speakers, and healers in the world – for all the wisdom mankind has amassed and is accessible to everyone (well, many), how are we doing? How are you doing? And our only recourse has been to shrug and “do our best” nonetheless. If there were ever a metaphor of Sisyphus, this would be it. Our natural self-grown “gravity” seeks only to undermine and tear us down at every turn. And we all seem to just “accept” it. If anything, this is a rallying cry against that very supposition itself! We all need to wake the fuck up and stand that THIS IS NOT OK. Yes?

There’s an apathy that “this is the way it is” or, even worse, that we have stopped even recognizing it as a problem. Here we are, supposedly with the capacity for self-agency – the capacity to make conscious choices – and we “choose” this. So, it’s not just that we inflict suffering upon ourselves, but we choose to do so by not choosing not to!

Look, I’m not trying to make any of us “wrong” about it except for the notion that perhaps we can’t do anything about it. Shame on you and me if that’s the case. That is the ultimate abrogation of responsibility. We have this one life and we choose AT BEST to barely “survive” it versus actually live it. This is not some “glass is half full” point of view with some margin difference between thriving and surviving: it’s a massive differential. Try this: think how many times you withheld telling someone you liked them – for fear of rejection. How many silent heartbreaks did you experience and basically self-inflict because you had some “story” that you wouldn’t be good enough – not lovable enough. And then think “what if” you had shared those feelings and the other person had reciprocated? How different might the arc of your life have been? WILDLY. And that’s just one interaction. How many times a day do you withhold positive feelings towards another or even yourself? How many does that add up to in the entirety of your life? Can you even conceive how magnificent your life might have turned out or be in this moment had you just been kind to your own self? And this is just the tip of the iceberg!

How about all the negative thoughts, feelings, and judgments you have about others? And them about you? How has the judgment of others – even the perceived judgment of others – impacted you? Right now in this moment take a quick inventory of your judgments of me, the person next to you, that conversation from yesterday, etc? It’s happening all the time! I’m not going to suggest we simply “stop judging ourselves and others.” That sounds nice but it’s not going to happen. What I am suggesting is that we stop negativelyjudging others and ourselves. And here’s the bottom line: that’s not going to happen either: UNLESS WE SHIFT THE PARADIGM IN WHICH WE OPERATE.

As long as the way we conceive of “ourselves” and the world as we do, it’ll be like Sisyphus again: we’ll temporarily make some progress and the regress back in the next instant. One step forward, ten steps back. And it IS asymmetric. What percent of your thoughts are negative in some way versus positive? “Ugh, I hate my job.” “I hate that politician on TV.” “I suck.” “That resent that person with more money or a nicer house than me.” “Ech, I hate seeing myself on Zoom.” Etcetera! Now how many times are you saying positive things and how long do those last before some other negative thought pulls out the rug? About 80% of our thoughts are negative: worries, self-criticism, fears, regrets, and other ruminations. Add to that that the fact that it takes three to five positive thoughts to counteract the impact of a single negative thought and we see that this is a losing proposition. No wonder we are ALL suffering . . . unnecessarily!

The question is what to do about it. All the practitioners out there are teaching us to be more kind” to ourselves and to “be positive.” How’s that going? I am not faulting the practitioners by the way (only a little): it’s us, the audience that can’t “hear” their message in a way that creates fundamental, lasting change. It’s more, what I call, “whipped cream on dog shit.” Eventually (and I’m talking minutes) we are left with dog shit thinking. It’s the same situation with TV: it’s not that there isn’t quality programming available: it’s that the audience wants garbage and distraction from having to take some responsibility for their lives. Bottom line: “It’s the audience, stupid.”

And we haven’t even touched the surface! As I alluded to before: it’s not just the negative thoughts that inflict harm on ourselves or others and all the suffering that results: it’s the missed opportunity costthat dwarfs that conversation entirely! What could your life be like if you granted yourself the permission to live it fully, self-expressed and, get this: unafraid? There is SO much fear out there – the absolutely predominant amount self-invented and therefore self-inflicted. That fear is keeping you from the gorgeous, expansive, meaningful, joyous, and potentially globally impactful possibility that is you. Gone, robbed, suppressed, extinguished. And thaty, my frineds, IS a crime of humanity. Brought to you by: you. And me. And us.

So, do I have your attention? We have a literal fucking crisis on our hands – not just of personal human experience: it’s reaching global scales where World War III is almost upon us and “weapons” (from AI to nuclear bombs to climate change to the next biological pandemic) stand to annihilate us all. The greatest weapon of all is that we think we can’t do anything about it. We have suppressed and disempowered the conception of our own individual and collective power to some mystical entities out there that have convinced us they know better. We call them “companies, governments, and countries” but we fail to recognize that these are NOT “things” – they are merely ideas and concepts that we have simply agreed upon.

What I am suggesting is that it is ALL about ideas: 99.99% of what we traffic in are thoughts, ideas, and beliefs. None of them are “real” in the physical sense and therefore, THEREFORE, can just as easily be modified and reprogrammed. THAT’s THE GREAT NEWS!!