Whilst reading about the closure of Kids Company I was struck once more by how everything in the world is connected. This is to a greater or lesser extent to be sure. Think of the world as being like the Sudoku above. Each square in the grid is dependent on the others.
Everything in UK society is connected, to a greater or lesser extent. So when the external economic environment changed in 2008 as a result of the bursting of the property bubble and the recession that followed, this affected the economy. This led to bailouts for banks, job losses, etc. Ultimately, whatever the domestic political situation and a whole load more causes and effects, it seems to have led to the UK Government’s austerity programme. I mused that if there were more demand by children needing help as a result of austerity did or should have Kids Company tried to meet that demand? And more importantly instead of everyone blaming everybody else, what can be learned and what action is actually taken to get the children out of poverty or troubled homes?
Because one thing leads to another, that is, there are always consequences or any action, we should not be surprised when things go wrong sometimes. However, that is not a reason for taking actions blindly or carrying on regardless.
So whether it is a personal, business or government decision it helps to take what is called a systemic view, which means looking at the whole situation. A S.W.O.T. and or P.E.S.T.L.E. analysis help to provide a view of the ‘bigger picture’ and so possible consequences. Indeed the field of what has come to be called risk analysis has grown significantly in recent times, which looks at the likelihood and impact of an occurrence. It might be something that all politicians could learn about, not just business people, managers and engineers.