“Drawing in a group also shifts the kind of relationship people establish in a short time; groups inevitably begin to feel that they are team and there is a slightly competitive element that drives them to produce a “better” drawing than the group next to them.”

The complexity of the problem, and this is typical of all social problems, is daunting. It’s always tempting to simplify it – in this case, we might say that youths behave badly, the state responds with force and delivers swift and visible criminal justice, at least to a number of perpetrators and the problem disappears from sight, at least for a while. But if the problem statement is properly articulated, the response is quickly shown to be inadequate – and worse, to create more problems than it solves. One of the most useful principles of systems theory is that we should not aim to simplify for the purpose of simplification. Dissolving complex problems requires us to deal with complexity; any attempt at simplification will always result in ignoring parts of the problem, probably the parts that will collapse the whole system, regardless of the number or quality of interventions made. The problem here is of a society in which young people have no sense of ownership in the public good, in which they are marginalised from whatever opportunities exist, in which they have been exposed to various deprivations all their lives, and in which they have been neglected and abused all their lives and for whom opportunities are scarce or non-existent. Their environment lacks creativity, is characterised by substance abuse, petty disputes, interpersonal violence and inadequate education. They have low – and material rather than spiritual or intellectual – aspirations and lower hope. Their world-view

28 Management Today | September 2011

is constricted and they lack the tools to escape a destiny that includes the perpetuation of this cycle of hopeless exclusion from all the most visible trappings of success. Ironically, while mainstream society treats them as unreachable, they quickly demonstrate how easy they are to reach and influence; they identify with brands and trends much more than their adult counterparts do. Around them electronic and print media encourage them to yearn for clothes, games, cars, booze and lifestyles that are tantalizingly beyond their reach. They are bored and frustrated, disempowered and everyone, including them, knows that they are a problem. Does this excuse their behaviour? No, but it goes some way to understanding it and to explaining why arresting and convicting 1000 youths isn’t going to solve the problem. The problem is in itself an indicator that traditional approaches have failed. Disaffected youth are not a new or even recent problem; worldwide communities suffer the negative impact of young people who have no place in the economies and opportunities of modern society. Yet the problem perpetuates.

While politicians often demand that problems be framed into neat 10-point plans or five-phased strategies, the problems that face them rarely reflect such convenience. These are instead the kinds of problem that are well served by systems theory and the design thinking methodology that inspires “What it looks like when its fixed”,