Pigs and Garbage – A Systems Thinking Tale

Kill all the pigs.

This decree was ordered by Cairo’s government officials to prevent a swine flu epidemic. It caused a mess. A big mess.

It was a rational decision based on cause and effect thinking. If pigs cause swine flu, kill the pigs. It failed, however, to consider that the solution itself had unintended consequences in a complex and organic (pardon ... Read more »