The Cause is at the Source

Knowledge + Experience = Wisdom 138

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One of the most influential papers from my former career described the ‘River Continuum Concept’. Though quite basic, this paper revolutionized how we thought about streams and rivers. Specifically how freshwater systems changed from their springs where they began to the oceans into which they drained.

This paper introduced me to systems thinking and changed how I think about the world and nearly everything in it. 

Generally, systems are comprised of individual elements and the interactions among the elements. The shift for me and many others is to expand the focus from myopic consideration of single parts to the interactions of all the parts critical to the item(s) of interest.

This shift in thinking depends on our understanding of scope.

Often we use the word scale or perspective when we really mean scope. Scope refers to the grain size of our focus (e.g., a salamander, a pixel, or a race car) and the extent of the area around that grain (e.g., a stream, a monitor, and a race track). 

For every item we are interested,there is a relevant and appropriate environment or system (extent) to consider. Thus we define not just the target of interest but the relevant system and parts we must also consider to truly understand anything about our target.

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Continuing the stream system analogy, we can consider many systems fairly linear in complexity. Truly, many systems are likely to be more three-dimensional and diffuse, but those are more difficult to study. The stream metaphor is a good intermediate step between target-based, grain-focused thinking and truly expansive and complex systems.

Typically, when we focus on a problem or target of interest, we think about only the immediate context. When faced with an unproductive employee, for example, a manager might refer to the employee handbook, monitor performance metrics, or even adjust the location of the employee’s office in order to adjust or improve performance. 

Using the stream metaphor, these solutions would all be located in the same area of the stream very ‘nearby’ the employee’s location. These solutions might have short-term effects but will not truly change things in the long run. This is because the causes are proximal and not ultimate. 

Yes, relocating an employee away from other staff who might converse too much may have a short-term effect on productivity. But if the true cause of the employee’s poor performance is outside the workplace then the true cause is not removed. 

Using the stream metaphor, I learned that it is critical to move upstream if the target of interest is in order to consider higher-order influences and causes of distress or change. 

Each section of a stream from the headwaters to the mouth has differing characteristics. But the general rule of thumb is that only upstream areas influence downstream because of flow. Stream flow occurs in the downstream direction thus we must look upstream or laterally for influential causes of in-stream phenomena. 

I don’t want to give away the whole story. Please listen to the podcast and/or watch the videos below for the full story. And please check out the other 150+ episodes of Knowledge + Experience = Wisdom. www.chrisburcher.com

https://www.buzzsprout.com/530563/13370647

https://youtu.be/61U4kzm_-n0