The Art Of Thinking In Systems: Improve Your Logic, Think More Critically, And Use Proven Systems To Solve Your Problems Strategic Planning For Everyday Life pdfdrive com

Calming down as a reaction
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As we have already seen, one way to combat policy resistance is to attempt to
overpower it. That was the approach the Romanian dictator took. Another
approach when faced with policy resistance is to give up on the policies that are
ineffective and redirect the energy and resources toward new policies.
You may not be getting everything that you want in this scenario, but it’s a bit
like tug of war. If you calm down a bit and let go of some of the tension, those
pulling against you will calm down too. If this can truly be achieved in a system,
then you can pause to study the feedbacks of the system and possibly find a win-
win solution for all of the actors and subgroups as you steer the system in a more
positive direction.
An example of this occurred in Hungary. This country, too, was concerned about
its low birth rate. However, Hungary chose to calm down in their approach to
solving the problem. They took the time to try to determine what factors may
contribute to a lower birth rate in their country. The Hungarian government
concluded that cramped housing was one factor that resulted in smaller family
size. They enacted a policy that gave larger families more living space. As the
size of housing was only one contributing factor to the lower birth rate, the

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policy was only partly successful.
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But it is easy to see how the calming
down approach is very different than trying to overpower policy resistance.
Finding a common goal everybody can identify with
The most successful way to overcome policy resistance is to find a way to unite
the goals of all of the subsystems. A unifying goal that everyone can work
toward is a powerful one, indeed.
We have witnessed this many times throughout history as people from around
the world put any differences they had aside and came together to volunteer,
donate, grieve, and help one another after a natural disaster or tragic terrorist
attack. We see it when all of the people in a country band together to do their
individual parts to support their troops and economy in times of war.
We can see this in the example of how the Swedish government chose to address
its concerns over a low birth rate in the 1930s. The government looked at their
goals of raising the birth rate and the goals of its citizens to try to find some
common ground. What they found was that while they didn’t necessarily agree
on the size families should ideally be, they did agree that every child should be
wanted and cared for. The Swedish people and government came together to
work toward achieving the goals of ensuring every child would have access to
excellent education and healthcare.
Despite the low birth rate, the government issued free contraceptives and
abortion to ensure that every child in the country was wanted. The Swedish
policy also included a greater investment in education and healthcare, increased
support for families in need, and free obstetrical care, among other initiatives.
While the birth rate in Sweden goes up and down at times, there is more of a
sense of trust between the government and its people, because they know they
are united in a common purpose and trying to reach a goal for the greater good.
They let go of their individual goals and put the good of the entire system as

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their first priority.
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