Institutions Will Seek To Preserve The Problem For Which They Are The Solution

from the the-shirky-principle dept

Fri, Apr 9th 2010 7:33am — Mike Masnick

We already wrote a detailed analysis of Clay Shirky's recent writeup on complex business models. However, a few of you have sent over Kevin Kelly's recent post about Shirky's piece that also compares it to Clayton Christensen's Innovator's Dilemma, but thankfully highlights the one key line in Shirky's piece that may have gotten lost in the original:

"Institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution."

Kelly calls this the "Shirky Principle." To me, it calls to mind Upton Sinclair's famous line:

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!"

They are not the same point, but they are related. In both cases, these are situations where people will often seek to preserve a problem or a falsehood, rather than recognize that it doesn't need to be that way. There are lots of industries where this is a major issue.

But, of course, the real problem is in how they go about trying to preserve that problem. They will go to great lengths to demonize the solutions. This is why the newspaper industry has, at times, lashed out at Craigslist and Google News -- two operations that have essentially removed problems that the newspaper business used to solve. It's why old school video guys lash out at YouTube or Boxee -- because they have removed problems that television used to solve. And, yes, it's why the RIAA and the MPAA lash out at file sharing apps and services -- because they have removed problems in distribution and promotion, that they used to solve.

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Filed Under: business models, innovator's dilemma, institutions, problems, solutions

42 Comments

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Colonel Panik, 9 Apr 2010 @ 8:03am

Preserve The Problem
"Institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution."

Never in a million years would I have thought of this.
The truth of this is overwhelming.

The medical/pharma industry vs cancer.
Education cartel vs learning.
Legal vs justice.
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Dark Helmet (profile), 9 Apr 2010 @ 8:12am

Re: Preserve The Problem
"The medical/pharma industry vs cancer.
Education cartel vs learning.
Legal vs justice."

UNATCO vs. Grey Death
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MrSonPopo, 9 Apr 2010 @ 8:21am

Batman and the Joker
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Andy, 9 Apr 2010 @ 8:24am

More examples
The Rainbow Coalition and Instituational Racism
Unions and unfair labor practices
ACLU and rights violations

These organizations just keep finding more and more minute unrelated examples to justify their existence. There are leagal structures, societal norms, and business pressures that make all of these issues rare and easily responded to by the buying public. How long would Wal-Mart last if it put a "Whites Only" sign on the front door? There would be no need for Jesse Jackson or the courts as the stock price plummeted and the stores emptied.
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Apr 2010 @ 8:26am

Batman and the Joker

/Discussion
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Sneeje (profile), 9 Apr 2010 @ 8:29am

Re: Re: Preserve The Problem
+1 for that reference. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed that game!
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Apr 2010 @ 8:30am

Scary example...
"Palin/Bachmann 2012."
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Dark Helmet (profile), 9 Apr 2010 @ 8:32am

Re: Scary example...
""Palin/Bachmann 2012.""

No worries, the Turner/Overdrive ticket will beat them handily....
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JJ, 9 Apr 2010 @ 8:35am

Demotivational Poster
Despair, Inc, the guys who make those funny "demotivational" posters, has had one for years which says: "If you're not part of the solution, there's money to be made in prolonging the problem." This conveys a very similar idea.

(It's absolutely true, and I've seen it firsthand in the financial software consulting industry... but consider the ancient software used at doctors offices, airports, libraries, the DMV, some of which dates back to Windows 3.1 or earlier. There are huge consulting industries built around this ancient software, since it's much cheaper and easier to help people use crappy software than to build a viable competitor.)
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Steve R. (profile), 9 Apr 2010 @ 8:36am

So True!!
GOOD POST. I liked the link to The Shirky Principle. Glad to see there is actually a name to this syndrome. When I get home night, I will once again be doing the traditional tossing out of all the junk mail appeals for solving this and that problem.

Just recently, I saw a TV add that looked quite expensive (and on location to-boot) for donations to help some impoverished group. My response, why was the money spent on a glossy tear-jerk TV add when the money could actually have been used to help that group?!?!
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Apr 2010 @ 8:44am

Re: Preserve The Problem
former US President/Oil Man & former US VP/defense, post-war rebuild contractor vs. "War" in Iraq/oil field security.

not many people seem to care much about conflicting interests these days.
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nasch (profile), 9 Apr 2010 @ 8:50am

Re: Preserve The Problem
Agreed, except that even if educators did an awesome job educating children, there would always be more to educate, so not really a conflict there.
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nasch (profile), 9 Apr 2010 @ 8:51am

Re: Preserve The Problem
I thought of another one after hitting submit though, and kind of a disturbing one: police and crime.
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mike42 (profile), 9 Apr 2010 @ 8:53am

Politics
When Bush was voted in with a Republican majority in both houses, I expected anti-abortion legislation. Didn't happen. Wonder why? Look at a bumper-sticker.

If abortion was illegal, they would lose the majority of their supporters.
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Dark Helmet (profile), 9 Apr 2010 @ 8:58am

Re: Politics
"If abortion was illegal, they would lose the majority of their supporters."

Abaondoned fetuses?
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Steve R. (profile), 9 Apr 2010 @ 9:00am

Re: Politics
Your post reminded me of our dear tax code.

As one congressman put it, every line in the tax code has a special interest supporting it. It will never be fixed.
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Apr 2010 @ 9:01am

The chronic pushing for more IP law and/or enforcement comes to mind here, lead by DRM (and now collection letter) companies waving red flags about piracy, which leads to stories about piracy killing this or that, which leads to more folks learning about the processes of piracy, which become more interesting when folks get the stick end of DRM tech crippling products they paid for...
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Vasco DaGameboy, 9 Apr 2010 @ 9:02am

Nowhere is this more true than in government and the associated bureaucracies. For example:

The Rural Electrification Administration, whose initial purpose was to provide electricity to rural areas. It still exists, albeit under another name. I challenge anyone to point out a rural area in America that is devoid of electricity.

The Federal Helium Reserve was established after WWI to ensure a supply of helium for dirigibles. It still exists and is governed by the Dept. of the Interior. The alarmism surrounding the depletion of helium for scientific purpose is breathing new life into this project, which has been vestigial almost from the beginning.

Amtrak was supposed to last two years. That was in 1970. Marvel at our brilliant passenger rail system, replete with bullet train service coast to coast!

Need I go on?
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detour, 9 Apr 2010 @ 9:07am

Re: Re: Preserve The Problem
not so much police as prisons, see "Prison Industrial Complex"
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nasch (profile), 9 Apr 2010 @ 9:15am

Re: More examples
Seriously, you think our civil rights are so safe these days there's no more need for the ACLU? And you read TechDirt?
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The Mighty Buzzard, 9 Apr 2010 @ 9:21am

Re: Re: More examples
I'm pretty sure the ACLU doesn't give a happy damn if an actual rights violation occurred, as long as they can hype something up to be one and pull in more donations.
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Apr 2010 @ 9:30am

Dea and the war on drugs. surprised that hadnt gotten mentioned yet.
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Apr 2010 @ 9:59am

Re: Scary example...
Don't worry, Cheney/Cheney 2012 will beat them. And those are both Dick Cheney.
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The Groove Tiger (profile), 9 Apr 2010 @ 10:14am

Re: Re: Preserve The Problem
GI-Joe vs. Cobra
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Apr 2010 @ 10:26am

Re: Preserve The Problem
DEA vs America
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Apr 2010 @ 10:47am

the real shirky principal: "use really bad concepts to slam people and call them dinosaurs, but only when it suits your agenda"
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Chuck, 9 Apr 2010 @ 11:07am

Re: Preserve The Problem
I don't think you understand the analogy... You can't "solve" learning or justice as those are on going problems or situations. Even if the education system was perfect, it wouldn't mean that people wouldn't need to be in school, there will always be children to educate. And even if the legal system were perfect, new people would still commit crimes. Even if cancer were cured, there would still be sick people and diseases.

The point of this are that there are institutions that may not have to exist at all if you solved the problem.
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btrussell (profile), 9 Apr 2010 @ 11:14am

Re: Re: Preserve The Problem
Laws:Crime

No laws, no crime.

eg. recent article about cell phones and driving.

Justifies many jobs and budgets.
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chris (profile), 9 Apr 2010 @ 11:16am

Re: Re: Preserve The Problem
Agreed, except that even if educators did an awesome job educating children, there would always be more to educate, so not really a conflict there.

the problem isn't one of quality, it's one of availability and affordability.

you can't count on an industry that profits from scarcity to solve the problem of scarcity.
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Haywood (profile), 9 Apr 2010 @ 11:19am

Re: Preserve The Problem
Internet security firms like Symantec, and McAfee VS viruses and Trojans.
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Greg, 9 Apr 2010 @ 11:20am

Re: Re: Preserve The Problem
Liberal Democrats (i.e., the current US President) vs welfare and all the leeching recipients.
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Greg, 9 Apr 2010 @ 11:27am

Re: Re: Scary example...
How about BTO/CCR. and maybe ELO in there somewhere...
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Apr 2010 @ 11:41am

Re:
Look out! Another agenda! But it's from an anonymous coward, quick, everybody, let's listen to this agenda.

You're so cognizant. Do you have a website with which to visit so I may learn more of your ironclad position?
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Jupiter (profile), 9 Apr 2010 @ 12:30pm

Might be first great quote of the 21st century, and maybe the
only path to ridding ourselves of 20th century corporate rule.
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Mayor Milobar, 9 Apr 2010 @ 2:35pm

correlation does not imply causation
copyright violation trolls/techdirt
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BearGriz72 (profile), 9 Apr 2010 @ 7:02pm

Re: Re: Preserve The Problem
Nerve Attenuation Syndrome vs Pharmakom?
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Bill, 19 Apr 2010 @ 5:29am

Re: Re: Preserve The Problem
True. Now we have someone who has no background except in marxism. Look what we are getting now.
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David Smith, 19 Apr 2010 @ 9:38am

Sounds like Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy
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Roland Dobbins, 19 Apr 2010 @ 1:56pm

It's called 'The Iron Law of Bureaucracy'.
This phenomenon is actually called 'The Iron Law of Bureaucracy', and was first articulated by Dr. Jerry Pournelle about 40 years ago.
I know it's hard for the precious Web 2.0 younglings to understand, but they did not in fact invent everything nor have all insights worth having; perhaps one day they'll learn of the concept of 'prior art', and possibly even read a book or two (Kindle is fine).
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jupiterkansas (profile), 27 Apr 2010 @ 9:04pm

William Inge
just found this William Inge quote:

Every institution not only carries within it the seeds of its own dissolution, but prepares the way for its most hated rival.
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Huizer (profile), 27 Apr 2010 @ 11:00pm

The problem is me
Every problem you solve was created by yourself...
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Ronald Amon, 28 Aug 2012 @ 6:26am

Re: Re: More examples
ACLU picks and chooses their cases. Do they really help the rest of us? Debatable. The Middle Class? More of an ACLU war on them. Nothing hard and substantive in case representation. Safe areas. That no one likes. As in defending an Islamic woman who came here and is upset that she can't cover up and still keep her very public job? Give me a break.
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