Beyond Quick Fixes: Addressing the Complexity & Uncertainties of Contemporary Society

We seem to be stuck, staring at insurmountable challenges. The pandemic is the opening act for climate change, and we need to get much better at anticipating and preparing for these types of challenge. Simply rebuilding bridges once they fall, or houses once they are swept away, is both expensive and risks human lives. Anticipation and preparation costs more now, but is much less costly over time. Of course, spending now to save later is not a dominant American tradition.

We have managed - or at least reacted to - the Aids epidemic (1981-2013), Internet bubble bursting (2001), the real estate bubble bursting (2007), the opioid epidemic (2017), forest fires on the West Coast (2018), and the coronavirus pandemic (2020). Very recently, we have experienced the fall of Afghanistan (2021), the latest earthquake and hurricane in Haiti (2021), and the attack on Ukraine (2022). Various earthquakes, hurricanes, and recently cicadas, but fortunately not locusts, have been sprinkled throughout.

Beyond Quick Fixes steps back from business as usual to rethink how we can approach the complex challenges of contemporary society -- health, education, energy, and social media. Rouse retreats, initially, into the principals of design thinking rather than policy making; he rigorously reconsiders our typical modes of operation and explores alternative ways of thinking about complex problems and potential solutions. The result is an integrated approach to addressing complexity to assist leaders and advisors responsible for addressing these challenges.

William B. Rouse, Research Professor, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University

William B. Rouse is Research Professor in the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University and Professor Emeritus and former Chair of the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology. His research focuses on mathematical and computational modeling for policy design and analysis in complex public-private ecosystems, with particular emphasis on healthcare, education, energy, transportation, and national security. He is a member of the US National Academy of Engineering and Fellow of IEEE, INCOSE, INFORMS, and HFES. His recent books include Bigger Pictures for Innovation (Routledge, 2023), Transforming Public-Private Ecosystems (Oxford, 2022), Failure Management (Oxford, 2021), and Computing Possible Futures (Oxford, 2019).