How Systems Thinking Can Improve Emergency Management with Mr. C.J. Unis

Crisis Lab

In this latest episode of the CCEM Podcast, Systems Engineer CJ Unis argues that emergency managers often face complex and interconnected problems that are difficult to plan for. During a crisis, emergency managers must consider a range of factors, such as the availability of resources, the needs of different communities, and the impact of policy decisions on their response efforts.

These factors are all interconnected and can have a significant impact on the success or failure of emergency response efforts. CJ highlights the importance of systems thinking and looking at emergency management through a systems lens. But what is systems thinking?

Listen to the episode and learn about the critical foundational pillars of systems thinking and the advice CJ has for crisis and emergency management professionals.

Show Highlights:

[00:02:56] How CJ defines systems thinking and the five pillars of effectively framing a problem

[00:04:14] Key takeaways from CJ’s Master’s thesis and what the academia overlooked in it

[00:07:25] How CJ deconstructs a highly integrated and interconnected system to solve a problem

[00:10:49] What CJ sees as the bottleneck of innovation and implementation

[00:13:39] How a rapid adoption of technology can lead to a knowledge gap and unintended consequences

[00:17:07] What CJ believes as the future of systems thinking in crisis and emergency management

[00:19:41] How emergency managers can integrate systems thinking at a community level

[00:21:40] How CJ thinks systems thinking could benefit emergency management and first response

[00:22:51] What CJ did using systems thinking that massively improved problem-solving efficiency

Connect with CJ on LinkedIn