Engineering solutions for Social Systems

What good is funding in the 21^st century? Social service, humanitarian work, public good, aid, relief, support add to it a dash of NGOs. Resting upon the threshold of donations and funds, the immediate as well as long term projects are usually if not always taken care by non profits.  That is how it has always been, claimed one graduate student during a 2 day conference on The State of the Youth in Toronto early in November. Corporate Social responsibility can never be given a genuine benefit of doubt for corporate organisations always have ulterior motives. While there was some truth to that, it was hard to let the reality set in. A large part of social and humanitarian work is done under the banner of being a non profit. That is the state of the world dynamics one would argue.  In my mind I questioned, why does it have to be like that?

Only when we challenge ourselves to think beyond the existing structures and mental models, are we truly capable of innovating and progressing. If analog was the only way of life, and we sat there assuming it to be, digital would never see daylight, nor would our mobile technology or high tech computing. Why then do we have to completely rely on existing methods and be critical towards the non standard social applications?  A method that cuts across corporate and donation based organisations does exist.

Engineering social systems through strategic management and design thinking will bring about a new flavor to this sector. Simply put, organisations that are grown out of the need to renew social systems have a brighter future than their existing counterparts.  There is a dire urgency to develop effective business models in this direction. We have been dealing with the same social systems for beyond a century. Our application mediums are being redesigned yet the source has always been the same, funding agencies.

While there is much good is this form of public service, there is a vision to actively propagate an unparalleled methodology waiting to touch the face of humanity. Design thinking for social systems brings in forces of empathy with creativity and rational. What better way than this to logically work towards social system and humanitarian issues. 

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Hackathons; A direct application of Systems Thinking Principles

After a gripping 2 days of non-stop foreign aid open data discussions, software development and unlimited coffee, ground work at IATI (International Aid Transparency Initiative), IDRC and DFATD seemed to make a lot more sense. By the end, all those involved in the hackathon had a fair insight into the challenges faced by Canada’s foreign Aid.  

The term hackathon has gained much publicity and media attention over the last few years. The term refers to a successive collaboration of coders and experts from varying disciplines to work on specific project ideas aiming to solve global issues. A typical hackathon lasting from anywhere between a few hours to days brings about a spectacular congregation for cross disciplinary research, idea generation and social innovation. Most of the talk surrounding hackathons is around programmers. Developing unique software solutions and web interfaces is what is sort after in these rapid coding zones. However the inclusion of personnel from other disciplines is what sets the real ground, transcending disciplines and framing a new perspective on the project to be resolved.

Picture Courtesy: http://www.123rf.com

It is this perspective that finds its roots in Systems Thinking methodologies. Instead of scrutinizing a problem by reductionism, systems thinking tries to establish a practical understanding of the interdependent elements by developing a holistic model of thinking. It also incorporates an operational thinking approach which deals with chaos and complexity in a system. Another essential constituent system thinking brings in is that of a social cultural view to the process of analyzing a system. The teams working on such global platforms share individual views during the process of decision making and critical thinking ultimately drawing upon a suitable technology driven social acceptable solution. There is always the question of assessing solutions lest they lead to unintended consequences or risks. Lastly, the encompassing factor while aiming to incorporate systems thinking methodology is having an interactive design which brings about all the subsystems together to be studied as one whole system. Collaborative technology upholding systems thinking principles are the trend setters for social innovation.

Be it the area of international development, community projects, social system problems, food insecurity or inequality, systems thinking has something enriching to offer to every kind of system. While there are no set rules that can be applied to attain fool proof results, experimentation is key to finding the success sauce. It is crucial for non-profit as well as government organizations to benefit from the energy and solutions generated at such hackathons. Needless to say, our social systems are quite in need of Systems Thinking.

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