SYSTEM THINKING

FOR SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT IN
BUSINESS

Dr. Hatra Voghouei

UCSI University
The global commons and insights
from systems thinking
THE GLOBAL COMMONS

The fundamental success of sustainability hinges on how we manage Earth’s shared

resources, even as we address economic expansion, population growth, and
environmental pollution.

Although we have previously listed the most significant of these resources, described
current trends that threaten their continued presence, and recommended a plan to reduce
our consumption of them, we are left with questions of why they are so difficult to
manage and why we have not done more to prevent their depletion.

The answer rests with the very nature of human beings.

Let’s introduce the social dilemma called the “tragedy of the commons.”
The tragedy of the commons
The concept of common resources, a “commons,” is centuries old. It originated in medieval times when
farmers did not own, but shared pastures to raise their livestock. Nearly 50 years ago, Garrett Hardin
applied this idea to other areas of human life, including population, food, pollution, energy, sound
waves, national parks, and airspace.

In what he called the “tragedy of the commons,” Hardin compared the behaviors of today’s people who
share these contemporary commons with the behaviors of fifteenth-century farmers who shared
common pastures. Although these large commons can support many cattle, what will happen if every
farmer uses this land only to his advantage?

Hardin imagined that each individual might want to graze just one more cow to improve his lot in life.
By itself, this small addition does no damage, but if everyone does the same, the land is eventually
ruined from overgrazing and everyone loses. The tragedy of these acts is not the unhappiness that
comes from damage, says Hardin, but that the damage is a result of how the system works.

In systems thinking terms, Hardin might have said that this system of land-sharing behaves according to the
interaction among its individual parts. Because we are locked into a system of “individual freedoms,” we
behave as “independent, rational, free enterprisers” and excuse the consequences of our actions.
 Tragedy of the Commons and Sustainability
The notion of “tragedy of the commons” is central to
sustainability and an integral part of systems thinking
primarily because it describes behaviors that pit individual
short-term gains against long-term losses for the group.

It applies whenever individuals overuse or abuse limited

shared resources based on their own needs. Using the
language of systems thinking, this figure illustrates how
limits on shared resources and others’ actions relative to those
resources eventually inhibit gains for all group members. As
total use of common resources increases, in the long run,
each person gains less.

An important part of this system construct is the delay at its

center. Because personal gain is not affected immediately,
individuals disregard the potential effects of their actions on
the whole.
 Tragedy of the Commons and Sustainability
Experts believe the world shares four commons:
(1) oceans,
(2) atmosphere,
(3) outer space, and
(4) Antarctica.
Recent views declare cyberspace – the invisible domain of electronic communication – as a new commons.

Although these few are vital, others are as important when we are talking about sustainability. Because humans are
part of a world-sized integrated system, this list must include all land, fisheries, forests, food, water, air, and energy,
regardless of where we live.

Local actions have global effects. Food grown on the land and with the water from one nation is exported to other
nations; pollution fouls the air, land, and water in one nation, but eventually travels around the world – even if in
diluted form. Although we may think that our home country “owns” the water, oil, food, and air it uses, in the end,
these resources touch us all.
Repercussions of Mismanaging the Global Commons

We inhabit an extraordinary planet whose abundant resources support our lives; but with the help of
technology and growing populations, we also have unparalleled power to destroy our inheritance.

The system's challenge to managing this global commons is that the effects of individual behaviors do not
show themselves for decades or even centuries. Many actions do not seem to matter individually – use of
limited water and fossil fuels, economic growth, and excessive waste – but they lead to tragedy for our global
commons over time.

To preserve these shared resources, we must transcend personal ownership before the accumulation of
individual self-motivated behaviors has literally eaten us out of house and home.

With this final perspective about the global commons planted firmly in our minds, we can compose a list of
primary insights gained by applying systems thinking to sustainability.
 Inertia, Balance, and Perspective

The first important lesson from applying systems thinking to sustainability is that the system’s inertia
(its resistance to change) is immense.
- Inertia in the sustainability system comes from its numerous reinforcing loops that generate ever-
accelerating growth and from its weakened balancing loops that cannot slow the growth machine down.

- Multiple lengthy delays in these balancing loops prevent system limits from taking immediate effect.

- These relationships also dictate that inertia will be present if we have triggered a collapse and the
system is decaying.
 Inertia, Balance, and Perspective
- The second lesson reminds us of the need for balance.
- Balance requires that we give equal weight to conflicting considerations and helps overcome inertia as
we transition toward a sustainable world.

- To attain balance, tradeoffs among proposed solutions are crucial. Because we are butting up against
the Earth’s ability to support the billions of humans who are alive today and the billions more who will
be alive in the next decades, our population, economy, instant gratification, energy consumption, and
pollution cannot continue to grow.

- Sustainability requires many types of balance: balance among economy, society, and environment;
balance between present and future; balance in how we achieve happiness and well-being; and balance
between our small selves and the welfare of society.
 Inertia, Balance, and Perspective

- The importance of perspective is the ultimate lesson. The systems perspective featured helps to
understand how its major components influence one another.

- The resulting system diagram is a framework we can use to introduce new factors. A systems
perspective helps us consider how our decisions, actions, and behaviors affect the future.
 Systems Thinking and Effective Intervention
The previous chapter proposed a plan of intervention for sustainability.
The plan takes the three lessons of systems thinking to heart by dividing the areas of intervention into three levels
(paradigm shifts, structural changes, and transition to the future. Within these levels, it

- First, acknowledges the massive inertia in the system and includes actions that gradually build a conceptual foundation,
actions that reduce population and pollution to relieve currently rising pressures, and actions such as technology
investment that recognize the power of inertia and give us time to adjust today’s unsustainable behaviors.

- Second, the plan proposes a balance between present and future, individual happiness and collective well-being,
national sovereignty and world concerns, and among the three components of sustainability. In achieving this balance,
it emphasizes harmony, integration, and simultaneous action, accommodates human nature, and proposes ways to
engage autonomous individual commitment within the structural confines of global governance.

- Finally, the plan incorporates perspective. It considers issues and solutions as they relate to one another and makes
trade-offs among them. It causes us to fast-forward in time to understand and accommodate the effects of present
actions. With its systems framework, the plan releases us from the confines of our mental model. It addresses major
aspects of sustainability and proposes actions that touch every person on Earth. Finally, it adds the notion of sustainable
stewardship to integrate individual and collective efforts
 WHERE TO NOW?
For a healthy tomorrow, today’s society must tackle the disconcerting challenge of keeping Mother Earth alive
and well. Our health is tied to her health.

Even with the holistic insights from systems thinking, success depends on each and every one of us. It
depends on our cultures and on our social institutions. We must certainly give it a try. We can no longer go
about our short-term business measuring success regarding economic growth, personal wealth, and buying
things. We must finally burst our mental bubble and adapt to a new reality.

Indeed, we humans live in a most uncommon world. We do not have all the answers, but we do know that
managing the abundant resources in our great global commons is the heart of sustainability.
 WHERE TO NOW?
Perhaps one day, we will realize that our paradigms about the world must continually be reexamined, for every
paradigm represents our “limited under- standing of an immense and amazing universe that is far beyond human
comprehension”

Perhaps one day, we will have global governance for sustainability which, like Star Trek’s Federation, will have its own
prime directive: “Live within Earth’s ability to sustain life!”

In the meantime, and until we find better answers, we must take our global citizenship and our stewardship role
seriously.
- We can learn what not to do from the ancient Mayan civilization that failed to adapt to its environment or from the
great Roman Empire that outgrew its resources.
- We can learn what to do by combining our thoughts, efforts, failures, and successes in global debates and
discussions.
- We can view sustainability as a big system whose current behavior will be ponderously slow to change and whose
interacting parts have both short-term effects and long-term consequences.
- In these ways, we will recognize the urgency for change and equip ourselves to identify solutions and consequences.