Systems Thinking
Creativity is:
Creativity happens:
What is flight to a bird?
8 Tenets of Systems Thinking:
Emergence:
Multifinal solution to Water Hyacinth Problem:
Partnerships
Who’s in the Coalition: Ebola Busters
The original goal would be to start with the local government in Sierra Leone as well as the partners they have in-country (aka WHI). Then after we have created a partnership with the key players in Sierra Leone, the next goal would be to leverage those partners to jump onto bigger players like the key player across West Africa, like MSF and the rest of the region’s governments. After we got them on board we would target East Africa in the same sense as we did start in a country and then moving on the greater region’s government once you have traction. After this, we would target the major funders and players of medicine in the world (aka WHO, NIH, CDC), by leveraging the governments and partnership we had grown on the ground in Africa.
Team Name: Socioeconomics of Ebola Date: ___10/4/19______________ | |
Goals | · What are the personal goals (small g) of each member on this team? (Team Member #1,#2, #3, etc) Make sure they connect to the DREAM on the Individual Profile.
1. Anna- To gain experience in academia, to move the project forward and publish deliverables 2. Lindsay- To learn a lot and to potentially get published 3. Nate- To add to his experience, network, and collaborate in interdisciplinary work · What is the Project GOAL (big G) we’re all committed to achieve together? – Our goal is to utilize the data we collected on the ground to create a model to accurately predict, in real time and space, the probability that a human will partake in a risky behavior at the same time that a bat with a high likelihood of having Ebola is in the same area. · Is our Project Goal scaled to our resources (dreams, materials, skills, differences, etc.) and constraints (assignment, time, skills, etc.) – Our goal is scaled to our ability to obtain materials including accurate census and demographic data to use to upkeep the real-time model. · What are the metrics for success for what we’re producing? – An accurate model – Published papers: a case study, best practices of surveying, and a theoretical model |
Roles | · Who is responsible for which deliverables?
– Nate and Anna are responsible for the case study and best practices – Lindsay is primarily responsible for the model · Which deliverables that require collaboration, subgroups & individual work? Who does each person depend upon to succeed? – The model requires all of us to contribute valuable knowledge and collaborate in order for it to be accurate and precise · Do we need a project manager to coordinate? – No, we successfully come to consensuses about logistical coordination and project work and can sort out any issues independently · What are the deliverables each person is accountable to produce? – Nate and Anna are responsible for the case study and best practices and will collaborate on the writing – Lindsay is primarily responsible for the model but will be helped by Anna and Nate as well |
Procedures | · Decision Making – What process shall we use: consensus, majority rules, deference to expert, default to the loudest, or?
– We use the consensus process the majority of the time in order to collaborate the most effectively – If we disagree, we tend to each make our point until we can make an agreement, or we defer to an expert or to one of our advisors · Effective Meetings – Focus on key, timely decisions together vs. status/update (offline); – We switched to having smaller meetings with only the students on our team once per week in addition to the meeting with our advisors – This allows us to make progress and sort smaller questions/issues amongst ourselves without needing to involve our professors · Meeting roles: scribe, facilitator, time keeper – We all individually take notes and Prof. Bocchini keeps the overall meeting notes/assignments · Communication – FTF: frequency, time, location; type of technology: (Googledocs, Hangout, etc.); expectations for responsiveness; ‘best time to work’ (AM, PM, weekends?) – Communicate several times per week via slack and imessage to delegate tasks, recap, and organize plans for the week – Weekly Monday meeting: 4pm, Upper/lower campus, undergrads and grad student – Weekly Wednesday meetings: 6pm, Iaccoca, Professors, undergrads, and grad student |
Relationships | · Team Diversity – What is the diversity on our team? Disciplines to tap for solutions; individual earning styles for the stages of invention; overall team learning style strengths and places to supplement; cultural backgrounds , work experience, dreams to leverage for scope & impact of goals, new roles, better procedures; languages for more diverse customer set, bigger market;
– Anna: Materials Science, peace-keeping, goal-oriented, passionate – Nate: Industrial Systems, engaged in the project, passionate, reliable – Lindsay: IBE, focused, driven, outspoken, confident · Listening – Notice my binary thinking, auto-rankism, and go beyond it. – Generally are very successful at listening actively to eachother · Team Name–What’s a team name that captures who we are and what we’re going to do? – Assessing the Socioeconomic Factors Underlying Ebola Infection |
Part 1: Ethical Decision-Making
Step 1: The facts in the situation
Step 2: The problem and the Stakeholders
What rights does Chetan have and is it ethical for the US company to uphold their patent rights?
Step 3: Assess the motivations of the Stakeholders
Step 4: Alternative Solutions
Ethical principle: Consequence based- OOPS profits
Virtue-based – OOPS believes removing hundreds of employees and shutting down businesses is ethically wrong, so does not do it.
consequence-based solution because if Tom just wants to get his business running
Step 5: Additional assistance
Step 6: The best course of action
I think solution 1 is the best course of action, because it is unfortunately the reality when a patent exists. Realistically, economies of scale would work in OOPS’ favor with or without royalty payments.
Part 2: Grassroots Diplomacy
Step 1: The facts in the situation
Step 2: The problem and the stakeholders
The problem is how Chetan should proceed in this case. He will be fine if OOPS completely removes them from the market, but his employees will not be.
Step 3: Their motivations
Step 4: Alternative solutions
Chetan finds a way for his employees to work for Tom at OOPS
Negotiate a partnership with OOPS in which both companies continue to operate
Convince OOPS to buyout Chetan’s company
Step 5: Additional assistance
Implications of Closing Businesses
Step 6: The best course of action
Solution 3 (getting the company bought) is the best course of action because quite frankly either way it is likely to shut down. Realistically there is no way to maintain all jobs because the Neem Market is too saturated. In this scenario, Chetan can use the company as leverage and hope to do the best for his employees, knowing he and his family will still be okay financially. He may even be able to maintain the legacy of his grandfather in this process, although it will no longer be a family owned legacy.
Step 7: Actions to implement your solution
Part 1: Ethical Decision making
Step 1: Facts of the situation
Step 2: The problem and the stakeholders
The ethical dilemma is if it is worth it to introduce foods with higher nutritional value but potentially dangerous pesticides in an area with a high percentage of childhood growth stunted due to poor nutrition.
Step 3: Stakeholders’ Motivations
Step 4: Alternative Solutions
Ethical principle: virtue-based: The pesticides are being removed
duty-Based: We wouldn’t want our own children eating foods with pesticides
Ethical principle: virtue-based: Women are being educated
Ethical Principle: Duty-Based: we wouldn’t want our own children eating foods
with pesticides
Step 5: Seek additional assistance, as appropriate
We learned from the malnutrition team in Sierra Leone about creating a product for children and have learned the importance of incorporating whole, nutritious foods into childrens’ diet. However, supplements can be effective too if they need to be used.
Step 6: The best solution
The best course of action in this case is for the women themselves to wash the fruit themselves. As removing the skin does remove a lot of the nutrients, it may be possible to use supplements in this product as well as we learned from the malnutrition team.
Step 7: Implications on the Venture
Part 2: Grassroots Diplomacy
Step 1: The facts of the situation
Step 2: Define the problem and the stakeholders
The problem is that the money the woman make at the coop is going to their husbands and other men who waste it on frivolous things. You are just one of the board members and don’t really have too much say.
Step 3: The stakeholders’ motivations
Step 4: Alternative Solutions
Step 5&6: The best course of action
The best course of action is solution 1, to an extent. I think part of the compensation should still be the salary it is, to appease the men to a certain extent and still give them a sense of control. Based on my experience, it would be too dramatic of a change to completely change the form in which the women were compensated. However, with part of the compensation in goods the women are able to provide for their families in a way that achieves both their and the Coop’s goals.
Step 7: List the sequence of actions you will take to implement your solution.
Youth Center in Kenya
Step 1: The facts in the situation
Step 2: Define the problem and the stakeholders
The problem is 4 kids didn’t get gifts and were separated from their peers. They blamed Jack who had a very good relationship with the kids until this point.
Stakeholders:
Step 3: Determine the personal and professional motivations of the stakeholders
Step 4: Formulate alternative solutions
Step 5: Seek additional assistance, as appropriate
I have worked with children a lot in the past, though not at a youth center, and I have found that they often get jealous when things are not the same. Therefore, for ease I would recommend getting the same gifts for those 4 kids unless it is really not possible for budget reasons.
Step 6: The best course of action
Solution 2: It is likely to not harm Jack’s relationship with the center as they shouldn’t find out, and the kids are most likely to rekindle their relationship with Jack receiving the same gifts. They should therefore be willing to work with him over the next 5 months. He needs to have good relations with both the center and the kids and this solution makes that possible.
Step 7: List the sequence of actions you will take to implement your solution.
Water Pathogen in Lesotho
Step 1: The facts of the situation
Step 2: The problem and the stakeholders
The problem is whether or not it is ethical to presume community members will take their time and help with research just because it may help them in the future.
Step 3: The stakeholders’ motivations
Step 4: Formulate alternative solutions
Step 5: Draw from additional experiences
Based on my personal experience in Sierra Leone this summer, 2 weeks is a very short period of time to try and get a significant amount of viable data. We would not have gotten nearly as much data as we did if we were in country for ⅔ of the time that we were. We also used translators that were local, and found extreme value in them knowing the area. They suggested different villages for us to look into and helped us speak with the chiefs and make sure it was okay with them if we surveyed. This was simply not something we could do on our own. Having the assistance of World Hope International to put us in contact with these translators and help us along the way was extremely valuable as well.
Step 6: The best course of action
I would recommend solution 1 or 2. If in advance an arrangement could be made with an NGO, I would choose solution 2. Otherwise, I would suggest solution 1. In 2 weeks, it is important to be sure that the research is conducted efficiently, which would not occur with solution 3. However, solution 2 would be more favorable based on my experience in Sierra Leone and how much WHI helped by driving us to and from villages, providing us with a workspace, etc.
Step 7: Implications on venture
If the venture works with an NGO, they will have to work with them to find community members to assist with, and if not this would be an individual task. The data collection would be likely to be efficient as the solution specifies compensating the individuals in the village; however, it will therefore require resources.
After 3 weeks of fieldwork in Sierra Leone, I learned a lot of lessons while developing both personally and professionally.
M&E plan our project:
Assumptions:
Logic Model:
Estimate the Social Return on Investment for your project. [Clearly, list all your assumptions.]
Assumptions:
SROI:
Through the use of our model, for every 1 USD, we create a saving of 30 USD. [Rounded to the nearest dollar. The real number is closer to 30.25 USD].
A 3000% return on the investment.