Process Is Everything
A New Approach to Solving the Sustainability Problem
NOTE - The manuscript is undergoing heaving revision right now. The copy on the website is not being kept up to date, because that would take too much time. When it starts to stabilize, I'll update it and remove this paragraph. Until then, we do not recommend reading it.
The Introduction PDF runs three and a half pages. Part One PDF runs 75 pages and describes the System Improvement Process and its role in solving the sustainability problem. The complete manuscript PDF is currently about 250 pages in a 6" by 9" format.
This is a book in progress. It combines the Analytical Activism and Dueling Loops books into a single book, with some significant new material. It's designed to serve as what you read after you've seen the Cracking the Mystery of the Progressive Paradox film, and as the best small book on the work at Thwink.org.
The book is complete except for part three, which is in progress. The book has not yet undergone serious editing. If you have comments or suggestions, please contact us. Thanks!
Table of Contents
Introduction
Acknowledgements
Part 1: Every Field Needs the Right Foundation
1. Why Process Is Everything
2. The Transformation from Classic to Analytical Activism
3. The Right Foundation for Environmentalism
4. Cracking the Mystery of the Progressive Paradox
Part 2: Column A – Overcoming Change Resistance
5. The Basic Dueling Loops
6. The New Dominant Life Form
7. The High Leverage Point That Has Never Been Tried
8. The Cyclic Behavior of the Dueling Loops
9. How to Raise the Ability to Detect Political Deception
Part 3: Column B – Achieving Proper Coupling
10. Taking Up Where Limits to Growth Left Off
11. Finding the Root Cause of Improper Coupling
12. Low Leverage Points and Symptomatic Solutions
13. Finding the High Leverage Points for Proper Coupling
14. How to Push on the Quality of Agent Design HLP
15. How to Push on the Property Rights HLP
Part 4: Column C – Eliminating Model Drift
16. The Battle for Niche Succession
17. How to Raise the Quality of Political Decision Making
18. The Tantalizing Potential of a Permanent Race to the Top
Endnotes
Index
The Last Chapter
Here's the last chapter PDF , titled The Tantalizing Potential of a Permanent Race to the Top. This is the stirring climax of the book. For it to make sense and be convincing, you must first read part two of the book first or the Dueling Loops paper. The chapter runs 13 pages and opens with:
Imagine a world where all elected leaders are motivated to do the best they possibly can for the people as a whole, rather than indulging in a competitive struggle to be the dominant political party or politician. The universal goal of all governments and politicians would be to optimize quality of life and the common good of all, because the entire world would be in a permanent race to the top. Governmental corruption and incompetence would be a distant memory.
Such a vision seems unachievable, and would be, if it was based solely on intuitive conclusions of how things could be. But this vision is based on something quite different: an analytical approach.
An analytical approach employes the same foundation as astronomy, medicine, physics, chemistry, and many other fields: a comprehensive collection of proven principles, theories, and tools. When properly applied to a deep analysis, these can lead to the results we seek, which is a permanent race to the top among politicians in the Dueling Loops of the Political Powerplace.
Let’s examine the potential of achieving a permanent race to the top: (the rest of the chapter follows)
