“A Thought and a Smile…”
By Eelco H. Dykstra, M.D.
What’s this?
A ‘Recipe’ instead of a column?
Yes, it’s a recipe!
There are similarities between diplomats and ‘chefs’ – as in ‘chef de la cuisine’…
Diplomats (are trained to) look at and understand complex problems, break then down in smaller parts and cook them up to produce opportunities if not solutions.
Chefs (are trained to) look at and understand complex recipes, break then down into essential ingredients and cook them up to produce great-tasting dishes.
In my last column, I argued that complexity doesn’t have to be complicated. Well, one might say – and some readers did – that all sounds nice, but what we really need, is a recipe. A recipe for cooking-up solutions to the increasingly complex problems we either are already facing or see coming.
This column doesn’t so much ‘weave words’ but provides you therefore with a list of 9 ingredients and offers some cooking instructions. Taken together, a recipe for distilling key factors into a clear framework – from establishing a common frame of reference to quantifying “how good is good enough” – to provide a helpful structure, a recipe for tackling big, systemic problems.
By the way, let me share with you that the word ‘list’ in the Dutch language means ‘stratagem’: ‘a plan or scheme to achieve an end’. In other words, a ‘recipe’.
Part A: The Shopping list – What do we need?
Decades of independent research and trans-disciplinary experience, revealed that there are 9 essential ingredients[1] needed to solve highly complex challenges:
Ingredients:
1: Common Frame of Reference
[Are we sure that all of us see, say, mean and are focused on the same thing?]
2: Lessons Learned
[Let’s utilize what we already know from our own and others’ experience]
3: Policy (intent) and Practice (result)
[Let’s bring them closer together]
4: Fragmentation
[Are there isolated parts or loose ends we need to connect?]
5: Before-During-After
[Prepping, eating and cleaning are one functional unit, right?]
6: Pro-action (instead of Re-action)
[Don’t wait until late but anticipate and act early!]
7: Universal Motivation
[Maintain your focus and sense of urgency at all times!]
8: Return-on-Investment
[Keep comparing ‘cost’ and ‘benefit’, adjust when needed]
9: How good is ‘good enough’?
[Define the end-result and make sure that it is what you want – or will accept].
Part B: How to Cook and Serve? Assigning priorities…
IMPORTANT: Do not, I repeat, do NOT throw all the ingredients at random together as this will create a mess and result in chaos! Instead, before doing anything, ask yourself and your colleagues the following 4 questions:
1: Which complex challenge do we need to tackle first?
(= Primary Concern)
2: Which one of 9 essential ingredients is the most important one?
(= Prioritization)
3: Can we explain the rationale for prioritizing and ranking the 9 ingredients?
(= Motivation)
4: What is our plan-of-action with the ingredient we assigned a ‘Priority 1’?
(= Recommendation)
So, What’s Next?
Ready, steady, cook!
[1] DIEM’s Nine Universal Roadblocks (NUR) Meta-Model
About the author:
Once dubbed a ‘Global Nomad’ in East Africa, Eelco H. Dykstra is a seasoned international crisis and emergency expert. As a true ‘Prac-Ademic’, he blends – also in his column “A Thought and a Smile” – his innate optimism with knowledge from his practical experience and rigorous fact-finding.
Aside from being founder/chair of the Daily Impact Emergency Management (DIEM) network and a visiting professor in South Africa, he initiated the ’20/20 Vision’ program for the dual purpose of strengthening value-based resilience and overcoming the obstacles that stand in the way of implementing lessons (to be) learned. Eelco has been a correspondent, written multiple books and articles and continues to work extensively with media, government, business, NGO’s and community-based initiatives. In short, Eelco is a transdisciplinary and trans-cultural multi-tasker – just like diplomats are.
Among his hobbies are cooking and playing the cello – see picture, taken by Tom Manning, during an impromptu performance with the Soweto Youth Orchestra.
Eelco H. Dykstra Professor (visiting), Adaptation and Resilience, University of South-Africa, UNISA. Chair, ’20/20 Vision’ Program: How do we go from ‘Risk’ to ‘Resilience”? Founder, Daily Impact Emergency Management (DIEM) Network
www.diem.nu www.20outof20.vision
