Tag: systems

Guest Post by Scott Adams

This idea in today’s Wall Street Journal talks about creating a “Red Team” to dig into the climate science debate and come up with a conclusion for the public. I call that a good system.

Systems are better than goals. A goal, in this case, might be to “Convince the public that climate change is a big problem.” That’s a clear goal, but what if it isn’t the best outcome? That’s where a system (such as forming a Red Team) comes in handy. The system will solve for credibility while informing the public of whatever comes out of the exercise.

You can’t govern better than that. Period.

Continue reading “How a Systems-Thinking President Can Settle the Climate Science Debate”

Guest Post by Scott Adams

Steve Jobs. Bill Gates. Mark Zuckerberg. Richard Branson. What do they all have in common, aside from wealth?

They all succeeded without the right kind of prior experience. Apparently they knew how to figure out what they needed once they started. I’ll bet they are all systems-thinkers, not goal-thinkers.

If you see the world in terms of goals, you might think President Trump has failed at every important goal so far. He didn’t get what he wanted on immigration. He hasn’t gotten his Supreme Court nomination confirmed. He hasn’t replaced Obamacare. He hasn’t defeated ISIS. He hasn’t done a lot of things he said he would do. He even had to fire General Flynn. President Trump is a big ol’ failure when it comes to goals.

Maybe that’s because Trump just started on the job. Success generally comes after you start. If you think success comes before you start, the world probably looks confusing to you.

Continue reading “How to Evaluate a President”