Speaker: Dr. Darryl Farber | The Larson Institute | Penn State University
This presentation describes the course: “Global Trends: Strategic Thinking and Systems Analysis for Leadership. “ The intent of the course is for students of science, engineering, social science, and the liberal arts to gain a holistic view of the interactions among multiple systems of socio-technical systems that generate the state of the world and possible future states of the world. The course is based upon the National Intelligence Council report, Global Trends 2030, the book Engineering Systems : Meeting Human Needs in a Complex Technological World, and readings that address systems thinking, “wicked problems,” and leadership. An overarching theme of the course is that changes in socio-technical systems generate changes in the evolution of civilization and that one function of leadership is to be prepared to act in the face of an uncertain future. Through an understanding of the possible ways the future may become the present, leaders can better understand the implications of alternative courses of their actions today.
Students are encouraged to develop their critical thinking skills such as understanding arguments, questioning assumptions, recognizing that different stakeholders of an issue may interpret the “facts” differently, and asking how parts of a system relate to the whole. Students are also encouraged to think through how systems may fail and why. Finally, we ask the students to recommend ways to manage vulnerabilities, failures, and other risks.