The Shirky Principle: Institutions Try to Preserve the Problem to Which They Are the Solution – Effectiviology
The Shirky Principle: Institutions Try to Preserve the Problem to Which They Are the Solution The Shirky principle is the adage that “institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution”. More broadly, it can also be characterized as the adage that “every entity tends...
Hasnain says:
I had heard of some of the anecdotes behind this but never the actual principle. This is interesting.
“When deciding how and whether to use your understanding of the Shirky principle in practice, it can help to assess relevant factors pertaining to your situation, such as what’s causing someone to act in accordance with this principle, and what outcomes their behavior leads to. For example, you will likely respond differently to a government agency that’s perpetuating a problem due to inefficient bureaucracy, than to a private company that’s perpetuating a problem out of greed, or to an individual who’s acting out of desperate self-preservation.”
Posted on 2024-02-26T04:05:52+0000