"The Systems Approach: An Area of Knowledge, or a Passion?", Enrique Herrscher, 49th Annual Meeting of the ISSS, Westin Cancun, July 1, 2005, 10:00 a.m.

Enrique Herrscher, ISSS president

49th Annual Meeting of the International Society for the Systems Sciences, Westin Cancun, July 1, 2005

These participant's notes were created in real-time during the meeting, based on the speaker's presentation(s) and comments from the audience. These should not be viewed as official transcripts of the meeting, but only as an interpretation by a single individual. Lapses, grammatical errors, and typing mistakes may not have been corrected. Questions about content should be directed to the originator. These notes have been contributed by David Ing (daviding@systemicbusiness.org) of the Systemic Business Community ( http://systemicbusiness.org ).

Last year: what would you like to hear from an incoming president?

• Now, what would you like to hear?

Thought the presidency was to make a few speeches, but it's more than that

Two sides of our job: scientific side, and a passionate side

• Today, want to speak about passion

Definition of passion, building on Russ's talk: doing something, even risking making mistakes

• Acting, knowing that you may be wrong, and doing it, nevertheless

Three stages in passion:

• How long can it take?
• The revolution is short, by definition, and then need to worry about sustainability
• Main gist: ends when everyone is involved

(2) Passion for methodology

• Converting the idea into something that could be done
• Stafford Beer, Checkland
• (Label, with the risk of mistake)

(3) Application

• Field is mature, and should have application

In organizations, in corporations, in scientific disciplines, and societies

• In society, something must be wrong, if we think globally (not globalization) with looking what happens to mankind
• 2/3 of mankind has never made a phone call
• 1/3 of mankind does not have electricity -- let alone computers
• 1/2 of mankind makes less the $1 per day
• We have wars, violence, inequality
• 20% of world population owns 84% of wealth; in Latin America, 10% owns 85%
• Each minute, there are natural woods disappearing by human action, at the rate of one soccer field

These are all inter-related. Why? Incompetence, corruption, greed?

• All
• Domestic and international. Both
• Citizen, politicians to blame? Yes
• It's a question of a complex system
• By a huge simplication: capitalism
• Capitalism has one advantage: the alternatives are worse.
• But this doesn't mean that capitalism is good

A view of capitalism, having to do with the origin of the word, from capital

• Not only financial capital, but five types that are necessary for survival
• Capitalism of the construction, defense and development

(1) Natural capital, e.g. woods

(2) ? capital: Machines

• Those that help

(3) Human capital: health and education

(4) Social capital: not individuals, but in relation to each other

• Trust
• Systemic dialogue

(5) Spiritual capital

Without passion, nothing is achieved

UCA: Understanding, caring, acting

Understanding

• Word describing Einstein
• Propose: transversal thinker, or oblique thinker, or through thinker
• Thinking out of the box

Caring

• The prelude to passion
• Sometimes, we feel lonely in caring
• Suggest reading Hermann Hesse, The Trip to the East

Acting: the consequence of passion

• Some dissipation, but we must focus
• Many of us in universities: do the universities know of systems?
• Not-for-profit institutions
• Municipalities: the smallest unit of democracy
• Some may be done by ISSS members, and by people outside; some by political parties, some by influencing public affairs

We will have difficulties with this: we'll have feedback cycles that we'll need to cut

• Need big scissors where we have to get to the causes of somethings
• Perhaps also need small scissors for things we can do at once
• Don't ignore the small for the big

At this meeting?

• Designed for diversity
• Have many methods, applications
• Study aborginals, maybe can reduce corruption in the future
• Knowledge alone can't solve it
• Need science, passion, dialogue
• That's why we're here

Lynn Rasmussen gave an idea: what each of us, in SIGs, were to come up with five big ideas, and present them at the end of the meeting

Also some ideas from morning session with Sue Gabriele

Small groups: experiment, as pilot groups

Advantage of having many young people, and Latin American group: not to divide, but to bring together

• Latin Americans want to revive the idea of agoras, and ALAS

Passion is needed to get things happening

Need to find isomorphies

Passion was needed to make this meeting possible

Fix the engine while it's running

Let us hope that we can find and create passion