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Why This Blog?

For long I have been asking myself this question: Why the human race, despite all its achievements has got stock with the “either-or” mindset: I can either be a vegan or a meat eater, a Christian or a Muslim, a democrat or a republication. Why not Both, why not All?    I believe our education and upbringing have conditioned us to see life in fragments: mine, yours, theirs. This has caused a collective mindset of separation and isolation with considerable cost – personal, social and material – leading to, among others, disconnection, loneliness, and anxiety. Could seeing the big picture change that?
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Why Do Smart Managers Make Bad Decisions?

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  What do racial injustice, pandemics, financial crises, globalisation, poverty, stock market, climate change, traffic, movement of billiard balls, swarming of birds, and your diet have in common?     Complexity .   Complexity lies beneath all natural, physical and human systems – as in ecology, biology, business, and economy. According to Peter Senge, complexity occurs where cause and effect are not close in time and space – like the lag time between a seed and a grown tree, injustice and revolt, eating and gaining weight. Unlike ‘complicated’, complexity is unpredictable (a car is complicated, traffic is complex) – as complexity arises from dynamic interactions of numerous variables encompassing, social, political, cultural, historical, and psychological domains. Biologist Lewis Thomas, observed “You cannot meddle with one part of a complex system from the outside without the almost certain risk of setting off disastrous events in other, remote parts. I...
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Decision making in times of crisis ...

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Decision making in times of crisis ... W hen “Multi–Stakeholder Decision Making for Complex Problems” was published about 3 years ago, I could not have imagined a more relevant time for its messages than now. During emergencies, decision making tends to be hurried, with a focus on the immediate. This is apt – as one must put out the fire first before thinking about its consequences, and how to prevent the next fire. But what if the crisis affects multitudes and critical decisions must be made by many. Do the decision makers understand the big picture - grasp the full range of the variables at play and their complex, non-linear interactions? What if decisions made during crises – as they often do – produce long–term unintended consequences – some of which counterproductive? What about the timing of decisions – do information delays and decision lags matter? The current corona pandemic is the perfect storm for these scenarios. Critical decisions are made by leader...
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