January 2009 Ongoing Discussion Announcement, with Russell Ackoff

In 2006, for his first OD session, Russ chose "Thinking About the Future and Globalization" as his topic and Thought Piece. In 2007, the conversation focused on his so-called "f-Laws," the topic of his recently published book. In 2008, we chose to open the session to his broad range of interests, from systems thinking to operations research to f-Laws to Idealized Design, and much between and beyond. An audiofile of this session can be found on the "OD" page of the In2:InThinking Network website.

In early December, I met with Russ at his home in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Our topics of conversation ranged from the status of Anheuser-Busch, his long-time client (which was recently acquired by global brewer InBev) to the senate hearings featuring the CEO's of Ford, GM, and Chrysler. We also discussed presidential politics in the U.S. and the economic systems of capitalism, socialism, and communism. On the latter, we focused on the immediate disdain in the U.S. for communism and socialism and the belief that capitalism is always the preferred economic solution, so much so that during World War II Russ said there was a general feeling (Edward de Bono's red hat, amongst his Six Thinking Hats) that the war effort should be run by GM, as their management system was so well admired. How times have changed regarding general impressions of GM's management system. But, red hats in the U.S., by and large, continue to express feelings of negativity towards communism and socialism and optimism towards capitalism, even as the U.S. government has entered the "free market" and become a business partner with GM and Chrysler, in addition to leading financial institutions. As for "What's to be done about the auto industry?," blogger Dan La Botz has commented recently;

We should ask how our tax money might be best used in this situation to help working-class communities, to rebuild our national infrastructure, and to improve the environment. What if we taxpayers said: It's our money being used for this bailout, so we want a voice and a vote in running these companies, not only to save workers' jobs and communities, but also to rebuild the country and to protect the world's environment? What might that look like?

BNET blogger Sean Silverthorne adds;

There is nothing new about government intervention in struggling industries: airlines, Silicon Valley, railroads, and the auto industry itself (remember the Chrysler bailout?) have all benefited by U.S. government intervention in times of crisis. Amtrak is owned by the government-run National Railroad Passenger Corp: its preferred stock is held by the federal government, and its Board appointments are made by the U.S. President and confirmed by the Senate.

Meanwhile, outside of the automobile industry and the financial industry, Fast Company magazine suggests in a December 2008 cover story that socialism could be on the rebound in the U.S. after noting Cisco CEO John Chambers is flirting with it to foster better team work within this Silicon Valley redwood. Several online responses to this cover piece suggests confusion between teamwork and socialism and Fast Company is baiting readers by suggesting that John Chambers is a socialist in disguise, which again prompts a red hat red scare. Adds one, "you're either being disingenuous or naive" to state that John Chambers is promoting socialism.

Stepping back from a dominant red hat on communism, socialism, and capitalism, Russ and I agreed to use his 2009 "OD" session to explore these economic systems and their derivatives. In the spirit of "better thinking about thinking," it would be helpful to explore these systems using de Bono's other thinking hats, specifically white (information), yellow (the logical positive), black (the logical negative), and green (alternatives), not to mention blue (which hat to use???).

For a white hat starting point, please review the definitions of communism, socialism, and capitalism. While links are offered here to Wikipedia, these are starting points, not "that's all there is, folks" points. Next, to pique your interest, consider the following questions;

Does one size pair of shoes fit all?
Does one fighter aircraft fit all applications?
Does one flavor of wine fit all taste buds and meals?
Does one economic system (communism, socialism, and capitalism, or derivatives thereof) fit all situations?
Or, in each case above, does context matter?

For example, are state-sponsored institutions, such as UCLA and Michigan State University, poor solutions as an education system? Or, should the U.S. military be privatized? Moving to health care, are these services better provided to society by private (think Kaiser Permanente in the U.S. as an example) or public systems (think Finland and the U.K. for examples)?. In the area of infrastructure, should the Golden Gate Bridge be privately owned? BusinessWeek magazine explored the notion of private vs. public ownership of infrastructure in a 2007 cover story by Emily Thornton, who wrote "Why investors are clamoring to take over America's highways, bridges, and airports-and why the public should be nervous." According to Thornton;

In the past year [2007], banks and private investment firms have fallen in love with public infrastructure. They're smitten by the rich cash flows that roads, bridges, airports, parking garages, and shipping ports generate-and the monopolistic advantages that keep those cash flows as steady as a beating heart. Firms are so enamored, in fact, that they're beginning to consider infrastructure a brand new asset class in itself.

She continues;

There's also reason to worry about the quality of service on deals that can span 100 years. The newly private toll roads are being managed well now, but owners could sell them to other parties that might not operate them as capably in the future. Already, the experience outside of toll roads has been mixed: The Atlanta city water system, for example, was so poorly managed by private owners that the government reclaimed it.

After this extensive white hat introduction, here's a blue hat suggestion for how to prepare for Thursday and Friday;

Please consider using a yellow hat for 10 minutes to explore the benefits and feasibility of communism, socialism, and capitalism.

Follow this with 10 minutes of black hat (weaknesses and disadvantages) of these three systems.

Next, using the green hat, consider alternative systems for 10 minutes.

In joining with Russ, be ready to for a mindful conversation that delves into the appropriate roles for private and public ownership of land, labor, and capital, all in the spirit of fostering "better thinking about thinking." As Russ will ask, "What might be the appropriate criteria for ownership?"

In addition to the internet links provided, Russ offers a Thought Piece titled "Beyond Capitalism and Socialism" (posted on the In2:InThinking Network's OD page) to read in preparation for this month's session. While visiting the site, consider updating your screensaver with a version created in 2008 in honor of Russ. In it, find pictures from across our member Network joined with quotations from Russ.

Contact Russ by email (rlackoff@aol.com)
with any questions you would like to share with him in preparation for his OD session with us.