Ten assumptions of boxed thinking
1) ‘To every problem, there’s a solution’ belief in the power of problem-solving approaches
2) ‘We can understand something by breaking it down into its component parts’ under-standing a complex whole by looking at the detail
3) ‘The whole (of something) is no more than the sum of its parts’ there are no emergent properties
4) ‘Most processes are linear’ events and phenomena have a definable beginning and finishing point
5) ‘Most issues and events are fundamentally separate or may be regarded as such, and may be dealt with adequately in a segregated way’ issues are essentially unrelated
6) ‘It is acceptable to draw your circle of attention or concern quite tightly, as in ‘that’s not my concern’ we do not need to look beyond our immediate concerns as an individual, a householder, a consumer, a businessman, etc
7) ‘We can define or value something by distinguishing it from what it is not, or from its opposite’ a belief that economics is separate from ecology, people are separate from nature, facts are separate from values, etc
8) ‘Objectivity is both possible and necessary to understand issues’it is important to exclude our feelings and values in our analysis and judgment
9) ‘We can understand things best through a rational response. Any other approach is irrational’ we need to downplay our intuitionand non-rational knowing
10) ‘If we know what the state of something is now, we can usually predict future outcomes’a belief in certainty, prediction, and the possibility of control
Ten beliefs of Linkingthinking
(Read these against the assumptions above).
1 Some solutions just produce more problems. Instead, we need
to develop ‘solutions that generate further solutions’ (sometimes
called ‘positive synergies’)
2 We often need to look at the whole, and at the larger context.
3 Complex systems show emergent properties; ie additional qualitiesthat emerge from the interaction of the parts
4 We need to attempt to look at all the influences at the ‘start’,
all the knock-on effects at the ‘finish’ and any feedback loops.
This complexity is characteristic of most human and environmentalsystems. (These are known as non-linear systems)
5 Most issues/events are related to other issues/events and can
be better understood in the light of this interrelated reality
6 Complexity means that we need to expand our view of the world
and be more aware of the boundaries of concern we set ourselves
7 So-called opposites are in relationship. We tend to devalue one
side against the other (ecology against economics, nature against
people, values against facts, etc), and instead, need to see them
in relationship rather than in opposition
8 The decision to try to be objective is a value judgement. Total
objectivity is impossible. Better to recognise how our subjective
self is involved in perception and interpretation of the world
9 Intellect needs to be balanced with intuition, and rationality with
non-rational ways of knowing; spiritual and aesthetic knowing
(balancing our left brain with our right brain)
10 In human and most natural systems (that is, those systems which are not mechanical) it is impossible to predict outcomes. We needto be more flexible, accept uncertainty, and not try to control
everything but participate in and learn from change
Taken from WWF (2005) linkingthinking – new perspectives on thinking and learning for sustainability. Scotland: WWF.