After listening to Dr. Bezio’s podcast and the reading by Dorner for this week. I felt that I had a fairly good understanding of systems theory. Working together with more people rather than unilateral leadership with a single forge ahead mindset is the path that we as a society need to head down if we want to make changes for a better future. I found the example from the podcast that surrounded standardized testing in schools to be very interesting. Standardized testing is something that our generation has always known. I took my first round of state standardized tests in first grade. And while I agree that there was likely and still is a strong need to fix the educational system, standardized testing may not have been the best path. Though it was developed by “educational experts” and systems theorist who likely had good reasoning for their actions, the longterm commitment to it despite the perpetuation of educational inequalities is likely a sign that the systemic issues of education should be reevaluated. It is easier to ask less question and simply assume that the devised plan is going to work forever as the best option. However, I think we as a society need to ask more challenging questions. I think this applies to our university right now as I see the Board of Trustees as having the forge ahead mindset as the university has functioned with these building names before so there is no need to change them now. Yes that is likely oversimplifying the discussion, but I do not believe the Board of Trustees is asking enough challenging questions.
I played the Millennial Village simulator for a little over an hour. I would say that while I improved my score in general, I struggled to devise a long term way for both my individuals and the village to be successful. I took many approaches with dedication of labor hours, loan amounts, tax rates, and resources limits. The one idea that I did stick with was that taking out a loan and working to turn that into profit through small business and farming was the most effective way to help yourself and the village. A limit on fish and wood was also necessary because without it shortages began to arise. Yet by the end of the game I felt that whenever I thought that I had figured out a way to sustain my people long term, disease or drought would strike which became quite frustrating. Overall, I think much can be learned from this game regarding systems theory in action and how complex it is.
I think the board of trustees is a perfect example for the systems theory, as one of the components is that one small group cannot handle the intricacies of a system. Clearly the board of trustees is just one small group and they obviously cannot handle all of the details that make up our institution.
I agree with your point that there is much that can be learned from the MV Sim game regarding systems theory in action and how complex it is. After hearing the podcast and reading Dorner, and then playing the game, I agree that there is a lot of thought and knowledge that goes into systems and there is a lot to learn for the general population.
Yes, the game is a great representation of systems theory, and I really did not figure out the farming idea soon enough, so I was broke therefore had to quit! Also, I took out a loan that was way too low, and that caused me to run out of money, too, haha!