Welcome to My Website!
Hi. I'm Jim Hartung.
Hyper-partisan politics is dividing America. Lawmakers and policymakers need a process to overcome partisan politics and address our most serious problems. This is a daunting task, since so many forces are pulling us apart. We need better processes to bring us together!
I have developed a new approach to address this age-old problem, using systems engineering (SE), the process engineers use to develop complex products such as aircraft and spacecraft. SE has been used successfully in science, technology, industry, and business for over 80 years. It is a core process for engineering, just as the scientific method is a core process for science.
SE is an inherently nonpartisan process because it (1) considers the needs of all stakeholders and uses facts and data to optimize a product or system and (2) balances opposing interests, conflicting objectives, and many constraints.
I have used systems engineering (SE) for nearly 40 years while working in the aerospace and energy industries, especially my experience using SE on highly political programs such as the International Space Station.
The SE Process
Until now, SE has been used primarily to develop physical products and systems. However, I have developed a simple six-step process for using SE to create practical, nonpartisan solutions for complex social, economic, environmental, and political problems.
Steps #1 and #2 require anyone using this process to put aside ideology, at least for a while, and focus on (1) understanding the needs and desires of all stakeholders and (2) synthesizing these needs and desires into top-level objectives. This broadens the mind and increases empathy for opposing viewpoints.
Step #3 requires creative thinking to develop a strategy that achieves the top-level objectives and key stakeholder needs and desires. This forces one to reject ideological strategies that focus on
just one or two objectives and develop a balanced approach that all stakeholders can support.
Steps #4 and #5 use the strategy developed in step #3 to define the new or improved system. To
optimize the system, it is evaluated against the objectives, key stakeholder needs and desires, and
other potential solutions. This forces one to consider alternatives, address deficiencies, and
improve the proposed solution. Often, this leads to changes in the strategy developed in step #3.
Step #6 is implemented only after a gatekeeper (such as Congress and the president) approves
the solution. To provide a check and balance, the gatekeeper must be different from the group
developing the solution. The first five steps of the systems engineering process are
repeated (ideally, as rapidly as practical) until the gatekeeper approves implementation.
After a solution is implemented, the entire six-step process is repeated periodically to
continuously improve it, using lessons learned from experience and new facts and data
as they become available.
SE Examples
I wrote the book "Rational Tax Reform: Using the Systems Engineering Process to Fix America's Broken Tax System" to illustrate how systems engineering can address complex social, economic, environmental, and political problems. You can learn more about this book by clicking on its image (above). You can also purchase it from Amazon and most other bookstores.
I have also used systems engineering to develop potential solutions for ten of America's most urgent problems. My proposed reforms are described in the presentation, Ten Moonshots to Revitalize America. These ten actions, summarized in the figure on the right, are not utopian ideas but practical, nonpartisan solutions that can be implemented today and largely completed in ten years, just like the Apollo program in the 1960s. Please contact me if you would like a copy of this presentation or details about any of my proposed solutions.
The Path Forward
SE could become the "go-to" process for lawmakers and policymakers addressing social, economic, environmental, and political problems, just as it is now the "go-to" process for engineers developing complex products and systems.
This may seem like an impossible dream. However, during my career, I have seen how SE has transformed large, complex, highly political programs such as the International Space Station from near-failure to success in just one to two years. So now, I am convinced that Congress and the president can incorporate SE into the lawmaking process and become much more effective in just one or two years. If Congress and the president lead in using the SE process, state and local governments, public policy organizations, policymakers, and international organizations can follow their example. This will help bridge the partisan divide and improve the political process at all levels of government.
Please contact me if you have questions, comments, or suggestions or want to discuss SE and how it could be incorporated into the lawmaking process.
