DESIGN INQUIRY
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 873 ▶ |
| Object type | Methodology or model |
A research centered “on the possibilities for structural, functional and transformational changes in Human Activity Systems” (A. COLLEN, 1992, p.563).
COLLEN comments: “The long standing preoccupation in institutions, corporations and governments with strategic planning does not serve well the long term processes of societies and the planet… and the growing interdependence among nations and transnational corporations confronts those in the most industrialized societies in particular with a startling challenge to an established way of life” (Ibid).
The most important need is a satisfactory understanding of the complex present interrelations of the system to be modified, with its zone of activity in its environment. In particular, much care should be taken about the “invisibility” of some aspects of the situation under consideration.
Designers should also research carefully the possible unforeseen consequences of the changes they wish to introduce into the system, in view that the positive sum game is quite generally a fallacy: desired changes are to be paid for, somehow, sometime, by somebody or by the environment (with probable feedback, according to the “no free lunch” principle), and it is better to know the price, or at least to try to know it before taking any irreversible decision. This is best done when every stakeholder is duly consulted.