In Part 1, System D was explained as a way to deal with unforeseeable events and situations – black swans – that focuses on agility, adaptability, and creativity. In our chaotic times, we need these abilities more than ever. But just how might we actually develop them in practice when they are so different for everyone? An example via a case study was offered for this purpose. Here, it concludes.
You probably know all about System D. No? Well, neither did I until today. Maybe you know what’s coming, unlike myself. No? Well, nobody truly does. And this is just what System D is designed to handle. Dealing effectively with the unforeseeable and unknowable, like black swan events and situations. Vital to know about and use.
So much these days seems to be getting out of control. Not just in politics but in businesses and organizations generally. Why, and why now? What has changed – the leaders, or their world? Or perhaps it is the role of leaders that has become very different and unfamiliar. At the least, something very big seems to have happened to leadership in these COVID times, but what?
One of the realities of a large complex world is that actions, even the most well-intentioned ones, can have huge unintended and unforeseen consequences. The world works the way it wants, not the way we might hope or plan. The Great Reset may have many noble aims but it is beginning to appear that the world has other ideas. What does this mean for us folks who don’t run the world?
COVID certainly has messed up the world but it will eventually go away. Just another black swan experience. But what if there is something much bigger, fundamental, and permanently world-changing? Like the crisis-driven end of an age? If so, where are we in this time of crisis? Strauss and Howe see this as the final crisis phase or Fourth Turning of a roughly 80-year secular cycle. Could they be right?
