A Fix that Fails

I have been recently enrolled back into school.  This time, it isn’t about business administration or marketing.  This time, it’s about “systems thinking’.

So what is Systems Thinking? This school of thought trains you to think of solutions in a non-linear way. We were all  conventionally taught in school to think in a linear manner.  When we say linear manner , it means a mathematical way of solving  a problem.  Simplistically, it was drilled to us that  ” one plus one, equals two” is the best solution because it uses math that can be counted and verified. But if some one says, “… to arrive at the number two, we can divide forty by five, then take away six.” A mathematician will ask you why will you take the long route when you can get the same result using  a straight line or linear approach?

In my humble understanding, that is exactly what systems thinking is all about. It considers different parts, scenarios, or factors to see a problem as part of the whole system. While I still consider linear thinking as a logical solution, systems thinking have definitely broadened my way of analyzing a situation in business, politics, and personal life.  We have been told to “think out of the box”. Well, systems thinking is just that. We learn to consider all possible facts, opinions, and scenarios as if they were all part of a system. 

There are learning aids in systems-thinking called “archetypes”. In lay mans terms, these are your “proformas” or “de kahon” systems that have been documented.  There maybe variations to a theme but archetypes are the building blocks of systems thinking.

This political story is an archetype known as  ” A Fix That Fails”.  This archetype describes a problem that was prescribed a solution that lead to failure . Instead of fixing a problem, it got worse because the solution was poorly planned.

This is what happened in less than 24 hours after political rivals of Senator Manny Villar sought to destroy the image of the poor boy from Tondo, Manila.  

Early this morning, the radio aired  news of supposed information to debunk the claim of Senator Manny Villar that he really came from a poor family. The political rivals of the senator is challenging his info-mercial on the supposed poorness of the good senator which resulted in the untimely death of his brother.  The propagandists had medical records that the dead brother of the senator was brought to an exclusive hospital and was eventually interned at an exclusive funeral parlor in Manila. They bragged of their superior research hound-dogs that uncovered this new information. 

Instead of winning the battle of hearts and minds, the political rivals got a severe beating. Here’s why. Senator Villar was scheduled on an AM radio show this evening, or roughly 12 hours after the counter-intelligence materials about his brother’s death was supposedly uncovered.

Problem is, the “superior research”  lacked human-intelligence to verify the context of the documents presented :

1. Death Certificate of Danny Villar from FEU Hospital

2. Funeraria Paz Record of interment

The propagandists claimed Senator Villar was not poor because public records showed “

1.  that his dead brother died in FEU hospital, a private hospital, not for the destitute.

2.  that his dead brother was brought to Funeraria Paz, a private funeral parlor who did not accept IOU’s.

In a shining moment of pure brilliance, Manny Villar did not deny any of the facts that the documents showed. He however told the context or circumstances how his brother died in FEU and interred at Funeraria Paz.

While it was true that he died at FEU, his brother was admitted as cancer patient at the  Charity-Ward , which the propagandists failed to discover.

While it was true that his brother was interred at Funeraria Paz, there was no record that the wake was ever done at Funeraria Paz.  The funeral parlor arrangement is part of FEU’s service to destitute patients.The brother’s wake was done at their rented home in Tondo, Manila which can be verified by old time neighbors who are still living at the same place.

So, you see, even in politics, systems thinking can be applied.  This archetype - ” A fix that fails” is a classic example of how the propagandists failed to think through of a real solution to their problem.  It was a sloppy solution that back fired in their faces.

In fact, if a survey was done tomorrow, I am certain that senator Villar will push ahead of his rivals because of the poorly conceived solution of the propagandists to pull-down Villar’s popularity.

Personally, a promise of good governance, untarnished by corruption, will be my measuring stick when it comes down to choosing my candidate for president.

I am just amazed on how the supposed brilliant minds of politicians made a blunder on their research regarding  the circumstances of Danny Villar. Maybe it’s not too late for them to go back to school and learn new things like me.

May God grant eternal rest to you Danny. Your brother won this round.