All systems need a sense of internal consistency and its helpful if we as a people support the highest functioning systems we can create. It makes no difference if we are discussing business, government, non-profits, or any other organization. Supporting positive behaviors and encouraging greater alignment with the goals and missions of an organization in a way that leads to greater long term performance and trust of such organizations/institutions. To understand a system one must look at the inputs, process, and outcomes to understand a whole system and when its beneficial to create more adaptability through improving information inflows.
Open vs. Closed Systems:
Open systems take in new information and adjusts when issues arise and when it makes reasonable sense to be proactive on problems. They function at their best because they strive to be their best in a type of over the horizon thinking. They know their highest purpose and act accordingly. Morality is high as such system act consistently to support that mission. Open systems in a free market economy are highly efficient and shun discrimination, bias, and corruption because it damages the whole for the benefit of the few [Pro social behaviors are normalized and encourage greater pro-social behaviors.].
Closed systems are not open to new information [often actively restricting it.], don't feel compelled to change, and continue down a certain path because those within that system lack a desire to change. They are insulated from the need to change and use permissiveness as a method of avoiding this change. In free market economies discrimination and corruption are antithetical to the long term goals of society.
You may want to read about The Difference Between Open and Close System if you seek a more detailed perspective.
Hypothetical Situation [Illustrative Purposes Only]:
People want something and feel disdain for out-group members so they create chaos to benefit themselves. They act in destructive ways, manipulate systems and engage in large scale group bulling, targeting and misbehavior. Despite most people's awareness of these behaviors, and what the financial and racial/religious intent might be, they correctly relied on an embedded and immune free pass corruption due to misalignment of a system to more sociably acceptable values and purposes. The system stays out of alignment because of the lack of internal and external will to correct so the likelihood of repeat will continue.
Areas of Improvement and Encouraging Pro-Social Change:
Be positive and polite and encourage stakeholders to think about the bigger picture and work toward the strongest systems they can create[Its a duty for each generation.]. Sometimes there are all types of alternative goals and ulterior motives that get involved but the anchor should be the mission of the organization and the institution [The danger of rigid hype politics.]. All other goals and issues are secondary to the larger central purpose and shared values. It is the same if you are dealing with large organizational misbehavior or you are experiencing corruption [Can be any place on the planet.]. When systems are in alignment with their missions, people within those systems make choices to support those mission(s) through mutual benefit.
As another hypothetical example, in business that might be to sell XYZ widget for a profit to return stakeholder value as well as to contribute meaningfully to society by engaging positive corporate citizenship. While there may be other goals like developing new products, making more money, donating, best place to work, so on and so forth it is still the primary focus of the mission that should continue to take precedence. The other goals align with and support the main goals. When there is misalignment of the goals, whether stated or unstated, one will find waste and eventual decline. Free markets want to reduce misalignment and inefficiency of maladaptive business practices that reduce trust and engagement in the market.
I came across this article about the value of listening to others even when one is an expert. Experts should sometimes be reminded of the need to be open minded researchers, scientists, and positive change influencers through accurate knowledge or otherwise they get dogmatically stuck and irrelevant to their purpose as knowledge creators. Humility, Experts, and Flexibility While change is slow, all systems must change or decline, and thus it is a duty to encourage positive change within one's environment. Any place and anywhere. Namaste! 🙏
