The dangers of "partial logic"

Interesting piece on BBC website - http://bbc.in/p3AR2X - about black runners always winning the 100m. It shows how false logic affects all race relations. I suggest it is not false logic - but "partial logic". And that it infects virtually all aspects of our thinking.

Causation vs Correlation.
It can be demonstrated that global warming has increased with the decline in the number of pirates on the high seas.
Any amount of research could be carried out into the geograhical spread of pirates; the manufacture of their ships; the liklihood of their wearing of eye patches - and nothing would take away from the evidence-based fact that the less pirates there are, the more our climate warms up. It even coincides with the view of conventionial science that climate change is man-made, so all that evidence could be brought to bear to back up the pirate based theory.

With so many factors affecting everything, we must be very wary of finding patters of correlation and assuming causation.

Perspective
The term "strategic overview" is often used as if it is a good thing - and it sometimes is, for getting a strategic overview!
But it is not very good for much else.
And who is it useful for? Strategists!
But what happens when strategists sit too far away from the situation?
Well, try using Google Maps without the zoom function, and you'll soon realise how limited strategies are when trying to find your actual destination.
Strategists also make an assumption that because they don't know the issues in our communities in any detail, that we don't.
So they tell us what they do know - that smoking is bad for us; that children are getting fatter; that this community is poorer than that community . . . all the stuff that we already know - because we live here.
All that is fairly harmless, until we get to the practicalities of dealing with these problems.
From the perspective of a strategic overview, 'Michael' doesn't qualify for any business support because the town he lives in is not poor enough - despite his own, very real, personal circumstances.
Meanwhile, 'Peter' who is a lot better off can access unlimited support, because the detached house he owns outright is in a deprived village.

A Solution? - Designer Thinking?

In the world of product design, innovation and user experience are key.
From the Hovermower to the iPad, the history of product design is brimful of new ways of doing things - an all are focussed on User Experience. They are easy to use, efficient, effective, affordable and available.
They are driven by competition, with commercial advantage creating a reward for risk taking and happy customers.

And in the Public Realm?
So why do we not have this flurry of continual service improvements in the public realm? Do we need competition to bring it about?
Or can we find reward in the social advantage of meeting our non financial incentives?
Can we not get excited about seeing people living healthier, happier lives?
Why is that not enough to force us into thinking creatively - really creatively?

There is a world full of social entrepreneurs out here.
People working at community level that can draw on the strategic overview, but translate it into useable services for individuals.
People that are not stupid - that can differentiate between causation and correlation
People that can design, as well as deliver, the services at the point of need.

As the money dries up in the public sector, are those with shrinking budgets prepared to relinquish their hold over them? Or do we have to take it for ourselves?

Cameron Gordon