Whatever “the system” is, it is either flawed or not. Flaws in systems can reside in the origins of the systems. If the system is a construct of nature, then flaws are built in that will result in change, adaptation to change, or collapse and demise as environmental and natural forces go to work.
If we view a hillside as a system that is composed of rock, we look at the balance of internal bonds that hold the rock together, the arrangement and weight of the rock, the fissures, cracks and weak spots, and the underlying support. Then, we look at the topsoil and the root structures that keep the topsoil in place. We look at water and whether it erodes, freezes and thaws, expands or contracts, or is absent due to drought. We look at the activities of animals and humans and whether decimating the foliage and root structures, adding weight of structures to the wrong place, or simply climbing, making noise, or introducing chemicals contributes to the aggravation of existing flaws in the system that holds the hillside together and keeps it from falling down.
If we view a law or executive order as the impetus to develop a system, the flaws in the system are often inherent to the initiating law or order. Requiring a state or community to create a system for helping the homeless by enacting a law and by providing funding can result in a host of pre-existing flaws that come from overly broad instructions, and which are compounded by the localized community interest in the matter. If the law directs obtaining a facility or building, there might be resistance from neighboring businesses or apartment complexes that do not want a concentration of the homeless in their area. If the local program developers find a more remote building, then transporting the homeless to the building becomes an issue. One community might have a concentration of homeless that are predominantly drug users. Another may have an overload of homeless illegal aliens that cannot be provided for, nor can they be detained and deported beause of other laws and orders. Thus the flaw in any system of writing law that is to be executed by a vast variety of individuals lies in the inability to determine the clear intent of the lawmakers or to meet the clear needs of the over generalized target population.
Flaws can be identified and can develop at the implementation stage of a system. If we view a plan as a system, flaws can come from failure to anticipate major challenges, resistance, unforseen problems or mistakes. Failure to test the plan and to thoroughly examine and resolve any problems before broad implementation constitutes a pre existing flaw. A plan can be developed to purchase hundreds of new computers, but if the end users have not been consulted or allowed to test a few of them, a total waste of computers can result as managers refuse to deal with their overwhelming lack of usefulness.
Failure to let systems evolve and adapt to changes is another flaw in systematic approaches to social problems. Trends toward financing another basketball court in a poor neighborhood is flawed from the beginning when no one has listened to the community leaders who repeatedly state that they need facilities for the majority of children who never liked basketball, but will participate in dance, aerobics, t-ball, and other physical fitness programs.
And systems that attempt to modify, save, change, or otherwise control nature are fraught with surprises. It could be said that any attempt to manage environments, animal kingdoms, natural rivers and streams, or to retain hillsides is already a flawed system, because of the unknowns that abound.
In summary, the flaws in a system can originate with plans for the system, can develop when implementing the system, or develop after the system has been implemented and created new flaws from stirring up unknowns in complex existing systems.
