Recipes for Systemic Change - Helsinki Design Lab

Expected Studio Outcomes115a high level entity requires the buy-in of many people acrossmultiple parties. We could therefore consider this idea to be alarge-scale proposition.The scale of the effort required to implement an ideacan also be compared to the scale of its potential impact.While implementing the hunch about zero-energy homesfor gatekeepers 1 would tangibly translate into the design andconstruction of a limited number of houses, the scale of theimpact vis-à-vis positive perceptions of sustainable lifestylechoices is potentially much larger.Considering the timeline is a way to factor in the inertiathat is inherent to all systems 2 and to maintain the focus onstrategic issues by recognizing that some of them have moreinertia than others. To honour the nature of these hunches aspart of a sketch you might prefer to use a relative time scale.Both the zero-energy homes for gatekeepers and a ‘cabinetfor the war on carbon’ can happen relatively quickly, whereasthe Studio’s suggestion that Finland densify parts of its urbanareas requires persistent effort by many people over a generationor more. Useful time scales might be: today, next year,three years, ten years, a generation, one hundred years.Be SelectiveRemember, this is a sketch of the problem and an attemptto find ways of addressing it—the outcomes of the Studio areintended to be a solid starting point, so while the Opportunitiesthinking must be articulate and compelling, itbig and smalldoes not have to be exhaustive or rock solid justyet.Whether it is 10, 11, or 20, pick a number ofhunches and use this as a target. Working withinan artificial numerical constraint will introducea useful degree of rigor to the selection process.The act of making these tough choices is animportant part of the synthesis process, gentlyforcing the Studio to take a position on what isimportant and in which order. Particularly whenworking with governmental decision-makers this kind ofclarity is important. It can be difficult to get someone in abusy position to sit still for long enough to talk about a coupleof ideas, let alone more than that.2—Meadows, Donella H. ‘Thinking in Systems:A Primer’. p. 39FrameworkArchitecture ofsolutions