Systems Thinking

The other day I had the opportunity to hear a brief presentation by Systems Thinking experts Dr. Daniel Kim and his wife Diane Cory. They were actually in Hawai'i on vacation but took some time out to stop by Punahou to speak with administrators and teachers about how we can apply systems thinking to our sustainability practices.
They emphasized that Hawai'i in particular is a place that must incorporate holistic, systems thinking simply due to its geographical limits— very small space, finite resources. Similar to a place such as Singapore, Hawai'i is at risk systemically. Where they have succeeded is in utilizing government and market forces to achieve a desired outcome; in this case that would mean a more systemic approach to how they manage their scarce resources. This type of thinking can also be applied to other areas such as public education. My concern is that the culture of the United States, as witnessed by the rise of the Tea Party movement, shows how Americans get very nervous when the balance between government and market forces starts to shift too much in the government's direction. That's why we see such a reaction to the stimulus plan, carbon markets, and even "sin taxes" in trying to curb people's behavior in less harmful directions so that we consider the collective rather than just the individual's needs.
Dr. Kim then discussed the concept of "stocks and flows" and illustrated his point by using the metaphor of a shower head and a bathtub. When we shower we don't see how water accumulates so we are unaware of how much we are using— that would be flow. In a bathtub we see the accumulation so we are much more aware of the system— that would be stock. Essentially, when we make accumulation invisible we lose sight of the system. This concept also makes me think of landfills and solid waste.
In systems thinking, stocks determine the state of the variable. Where does it flow and where does it accumulate? To understand a system you have see where the stocks occur and then 'swim upstream' to see how the system flows prior to accumulation. Where do we then intervene in the system? Systems thinking allows policy makers to become more effective at problem solving (proactive versus reactive) by managing stocks and flows.
We then examined how "The Tragedy of the Commons" is the opposite of Adam Smith's Invisible Hand." Individuals acting to their own benefit with regard to a resource that is essentially free (fish stocks, ocean/river dumping, the air we breathe, etc.) end up hurting the whole of society by their behavior, especially when such behavior is wide-spread. The concept of the invisible hand works if resources are unlimited, such as during the westward expansion seen in manifest destiny, but not so much when resources are limited.
In relating this concept to Punahou's sustainability initiatives, Dr. Kim asked us to consider the purpose of teaching sustainability to our students. He then encouraged us to be living examples of what we're teaching so that our behavior, along with our programs, are in line with the purpose. Carri Morgan pointed out that the school has tangible sustainability goals (50% less solid waste, energy and water use, cars on campus, and more food production by 2016) but no real way to measure that accurately. Dr. Kim advised on the difference between measuring and quantification. We can use other indicators as surrogate measures in place of quantifiable targets.
Some other resources they mentioned in the course of their presentation:
The Creative Learning Exchange, which seeks to develop "Systems Citizens" in K-12 education
Pegasus Communications which publishes a newsletter, The Systems Thinker, and holds frequent conferences and webinars on systems thinking in the workplace and classroom.
Karl Henrik Robert, founder of the Natural Step, an organization dedicated to ecological sustainability
Jay Forrester, Systems Thinking guru— System Dynamics and K-12 Teaching