Why complex problems need a whole-system strategy.

Big problems rarely sit inside one department. A decision about jobs affects education, business investment, family income and local communities. A decision about technology affects productivity, privacy, skills and trust. Leaders can make progress on one part and still fail overall if the other parts do not fit.

Dainu Devis works from a simple principle: design the answer and the way it will be delivered together.

He calls this the Concurrent Method, drawing on his Master of Engineering Science in Mechanical Engineering at UNSW, where he specialised in Concurrent Product and Process Design. Instead of completing a vision and handing it to another team to implement, he considers the intended outcome, operating model, economics and evidence at the same time.

Define the problem before choosing a solution

Consider a region where small businesses struggle to adopt new technology. It would be easy to propose a grant or a training course. Either might help. Neither should be the first decision.

A better starting point is to speak with business owners and the people who work for them. Are the tools too expensive? Do owners lack time to learn them? Is reliable connectivity a problem? Are available products poorly suited to the work? Different answers call for different responses.

Dainu’s approach brings those conversations together with economic data, service performance and the capacity of local institutions. It then defines an outcome that can be measured. The delivery model is developed alongside the proposed intervention, so leaders can see who will do the work, what it will cost and what must be true for it to succeed.

Test the route, not just the idea

An idea can sound convincing in a meeting and fail when people try to use it. A limited pilot can reveal whether businesses take it up, whether support reaches those who need it and whether the benefits justify the investment. That evidence should shape the next decision.

This discipline matters in public life. A promise creates an expectation. The people who make it should know how it will be kept.

Dainu’s published work spans economic advice, regulated market entry, governance and technology ventures. What connects those fields is the need to align people, incentives, processes and decisions. His value is in seeing how they depend on one another before a commitment becomes difficult to change.

A whole-system strategy is not a larger plan for its own sake. It is a way to give a good idea a real chance of working.