Creating Successful Goal-Achieving SYSTEMS: from Zero to Incentivization
Vision > Goal(s) > Target > Strategy > Tactic
Sustainable and successful habits, offices, and conspiracies function as systems of interconnected parts. In this short note, I’ll provide a few (mostly self-explanatory) concepts and two examples:
Concepts
No system, no target: Nothing but ideas and vague goals
Clarification and quantification of goals: You’ve got to have a dream, if you’re going to make a dream come true
Early system (fragmented): Maybe a few ideas and goals written on paper; maybe a few components/actions. No supporting structure
Established system (occasional): Sometimes I/we do [Activity] in the direction of [Benefit]. Supporting structure: Probably nothing
Mature system (consistent): We consistently do [Activity] in the direction of [Benefit]. Supporting structure: Resource allocation
Mature system (improved/refined): We’ve improved our ability to consistently perform [Activity] so that we consistently achieve [Benefit]. Supporting structure: Systems of quality control
Incentivized system: Each aspect of our system is now its own system, incentivized for the consistent performance of [Activity] so that we consistently achieve more and more [Benefit]. Supporting structure: Positive feedback
“Everything appears obvious when you know the answers.”
Positive example: exercise-fitness-health routine
No system: I vaguely wish that I were healthier/stronger/fitter/leaner. Supporting structure: Zero
Clarification and quantification of goals: I realize that I need to lose body fat [gain muscle, improve coordination, become a better dancer, etc] , and I’ve calculated that to get from my overweight BMI to my ideal BMI, I need to lose [10-20] lbs/kilos, and I would like to accomplish [all/partial] within [2-6] months. Supporting structure: None, but at least the goals are becoming clear
Early system (fragmented): I have some walking shoes and I’ve started trying to walk more but I have no schedule and no duration. Supporting structure: Basic materials, resources
Established system (occasional): I go out for walks that sometimes last for 15 minutes. Supporting structure: Shoes, clothes, early development of habit
Mature system (consistent): I walk every morning before/after breakfast for 30 minutes and sometimes I walk again in the afternoon/evening. Supporting structure: Shoes, clothes, development of habit, timing/alarm/reminders
Mature system (improved/refined): I exercise [walk, resistance/weights/calisthenics] every morning before/after breakfast for 30 minutes and I walk again in the afternoon/evening for at least 20-30 minutes. Supporting structure: Shoes, clothes, strong habit now becoming part of daily routine, timing/alarm/reminders
Incentivized system: solo: Every time I achieve my goal of ___, I reward myself with ___. community and accountability: We encourage each other to achieve our goals and we reward ourselves with [good company and good conversation with sugar-free coffee or whatever else]. Whoever does not show up for exercise has to ___ [buy coffee] for the group on the following day. Supporting structure: Shoes, clothes, strong habit now becoming part of daily routine, timing/alarm/reminders, personal reward system, positive feedback, interpersonal support, accountability
Negative example: Pharma power vortex
No system, no target: Modern medicine (post 1910) has always had a goal
Clarification and quantification of goals: Money, power, suppression of alternatives for control/hegemony. Supporting structure: The medical profession always has money available, and they always have the trust/support of the public via legitimate need and Stockholm syndrome
Early system (fragmented): Independent journals, state organizations, national organizations; medical professionals/organizations were supposed to keep distance from drug companies based on ethics and professionalism. Supporting structure: A few scattered but mutually beneficial relationships
Established system (occasional): Medical organizations are paid/supported by drug companies. Journals are paid by drug companies for the publication of advertisements. Ethics, professionalism, and the judicial system attempt to maintain separation. Supporting structure: Mutually beneficial relationships are getting stronger.
Mature system (consistent): Medical organizations openly “partner” with drug companies. Journals are paid by drug companies for the publication of advertisements; drug companies pay journals millions of dollars/Euros for reprints of “sponsored research” that makes the drugs look safe and effective. Ethics, professionalism, and the judicial system fail to maintain separation. Drug companies have a few politicians in their pocket. Supporting structure: Mutually beneficial relationships are increasingly unrestrained and haughty.
Mature system (improved/refined): Medical organizations openly “partner” with drug companies to achieve “common goals” in exchange for tens of millions of dollars. Journals are paid by drug companies for the publication of advertisements; drug companies pay journals millions of dollars/Euros for reprints of “sponsored research” that makes the drugs look safe and effective; drug companies pay the editors and reviewers. Ethics, professionalism, and the judicial system fail to maintain separation because Ethics as a discipline is no longer taught in medical school, “professionalism” is replaced by “performance”, and the political-judicial system is paid by the drug industry. Drug companies openly pay/bribe politicians and have essentially captured the entire protective system of regulation and quality. Supporting structure: Mutually beneficial relationships are increasingly reckless and vulgar.
Incentivized system—the system no longer functions as a mere chain of events to achieve an end result [linear model] but each component is potent and active in driving the system forward [vicious cycle, self-rolling wheel]: Medical organizations/journals are completely dependent on drug company money and essentially serve as extensions of the marketing departments of the drug companies. Ethics as a discipline is no longer taught in medical school, “professionalism” is replaced by “performance”, and the political-judicial system is paid by the drug industry. Drug companies openly pay/bribe politicians and have essentially captured the entire protective system of regulation and quality. Drug companies essentially own the journals and decide what gets published—only data that makes their drugs look good. Entire governments cower to the money and power of drug companies. Drug companies start seeking direct political and military power; in 2021, the drug company Pfizer attempted to make a claim against some countries’ national assets, political embassies, and military bases [statnews.com/2021/02/23/pfizer-plays-hardball-in-covid19-vaccine-negotiations-in-latin-america 2021 Feb]. Medical organizations/headliners now openly disdain the concepts of ethics such as informed consent and patient autonomy. Supporting structure: All components of the vicious cycle operate at full speed, with reckless abandon and zero accountability except to maximum profit and power, all regulatory systems have been destroyed, co-opted, or hijacked.
“As of 2020-2021, the entire world has been affected by… the political mismanagement of a medical problem… and the medical mismanagement of a political problem. As such, now more than ever, we all need to understand the politics of healthcare in order to make empowered choices and navigate the terrain with safety and skill.”
Dr Alex Vasquez, author of Textbook of Clinical Nutrition and Functional Medicine
For citations and more details, please download my original PDF article Pharma Echo Chamber, Sociopolitical Matrix, and Power Vortex: A Diagram-Centric Conceptualization. Int J Hum Nutr Funct Med 2019: PDF download; Academia archive