A Bat Sneezed and the Economy Collapsed

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Idea in Brief:
 

• The second industrial revolution (Mass, Lean, and "Bottom-Lines") created unprecedented growth in humanity a century ago, but this growth has reached limits, and creates a global systemic risk.
   

• The human population footprint expanded into the former wilderness, where viral reservoirs thrive in rodents, birds, and bats. COVID-19 is the fifth pandemic of the 21st century, and we can expect more to follow.
   

• Societal growth now requires new technologies and new management theory, as envisioned in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Supply chains must be local, visible, automated, and digital. And economic metrics must balance People and the Planet, as well as Prosperity.

For Better Products, We Need Better Cultures

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Idea in Brief

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• When products result in scandals, an immediate response is to find a bad-actor to be blamed, but this fails to recognize how bad actions are the result of cultural dysfunction. 
   

• Products are developed based on requirements, the completion of which are decomposed across many groups (for example, the Systems Engineering "Vee-model"). It is this decomposition which creates dysfunction and leads to scandal.
   

• This article details how the decomposition approach failed General Motors, eventually leading to a scandalous ignition switch, over 120 deaths, and a multi-billion-dollar recall. It further discusses how the legal team which investigated the scandal reinforced the “bad-actor” fallacy, and provides a counter-narrative to the legal report. 

Complexity Beyond Imagination

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Tell people more about the services you offer. Use this repeating layout to display content. It's an easy way to keep your customers up to date with what's happening. Want to make this content your own? Simple drag and drop elements like text, images and links, or connect to data from your collection. Tell people more about the services you offer. Use this repeating layout to display content. It's an easy way to keep your customers up to date with what's happening. Want to make this content your own? Simply drag and drop elements.