See my post on LinkedIn (replicated below) and join the discussion there:
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/antlerboy_rough-draft-systemscomplexitycybernetics-activity-7246779585235664896-64Xz
pdf: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/85zlt0t6ph8qarx7d7gic/2024-09-27-rough-draft-systems-thinking-reading-list-v1.1BT.pdf?rlkey=3rfavacsy4n6sl8j0pyedph1q&st=qagh1418&dl=0
Commentable Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Tt8GgQQj4Qw4HnR7DxKeF370o_HlDlpv/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=115526108239573817578&rtpof=true&sd=true
How do you get into systems | complexity | cybernetics?
Here’s my rough reading list.
There are a lot of answers to the question, many of them connecting with some kind of disjointing break from ‘normal’ ways of seeing and being. Anything from being bullied at school to being dyslexic. Being in an outsider group. Naively applying thinking from one domain to another. Studying a technical problem long enough to suddenly see it in a completely different light – then either have your breakthrough celebrated or rejected.
It isn’t some mystic thing and it doesn’t require to you break from polite society. But it is one of the richest, weirdest, most diverse and challenging, inspiring and confounding, confronting and validating things you can study.
I’m often asked for a reading list for people interested in the field, and I usually suck my teeth. Some of the books are engaging, insightful, humorous, relevant. Others are dry as old twigs but less likely to kindle a spark.
Really, it depends on you and your context – as David Ing says, it’s better to talk of the thinkers and their individual constellations of interests, history, learning, and personal tendencies than it is to talk of schools and fields and separate places.
And even presenting this reading list, I’d say that I’d recommend Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, Ursula K Le Guin, Italo Calvino, Jorge Luis Borges, Star Trek, old 20th Century Sci-Fi and Apartheid-era South African writing, art movies and music more – if you happen to be a bit like me. You’ll find your thing, if you’re interested.
But. The books are there – and many of them are *really good*. Top ones I’d recommend came out this decade
Hoverstadt’s Grammar of Systems
Jackson’s Critical Systems Thinking: A practitioner’s Guide
Opening the box – a slim little thing from SCiO colleagues
Essential Balances by Velitchkov
The attached list is a bit systems-practice focused. It is also too long and incomplete and partial simply for lack of time and energy.
There are *so many* flavours of systems thinking / complexity / cybernetics – do yourself a favour and don’t flog through stuff that doesn’t work for you, find things that bring your mind alive. Start with the articles and skim through.
But do start, because you will find in here the thinking and tools to find better ways of doing things for organisations, societies, the ecosystem, for people – and a lot of fun.
Tip: to save the pdf, hover over the image of the first page and find the rectangle bottom right – click that and it should go full screen. Top right you’ll have a download option, which when clicked will then resolve into a download button… (which might then open in your browser, but at least as a proper pdf you can save).
So… deep breath… what would you recommend? What do you think is missing?
The structure of a differential field may be described as follows. With each point of there is associated an object of the following type: a proposition about changes in that is, a proposition In that frame of reference, if is the universe generated by the set of coordinate propositions then is the differential universe generated by the set of differential propositions The differential propositions and may thus be interpreted as indicating and respectively.
A differential operator of the first order type we are currently considering, takes a proposition and gives back a differential proposition In the field view of the scene, we see the proposition as a scalar field and we see the differential proposition as a vector field, specifically, a field of propositions about contemplated changes in
The field of changes produced by on is shown in the following venn diagram.
The differential field specifies the changes which need to be made from each point of in order to reach one of the models of the proposition that is, in order to satisfy the proposition
The field of changes produced by on is shown in the following venn diagram.
The differential field specifies the changes which need to be made from each point of in order to feel a change in the felt value of the field
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COURSES
One new course has been added this month in the Influencing Stakeholders range of intervention skills: Communicating your Systems Interventions by Steve Whitla. This is an extended version of 2h 24m plus exercises and is available for £100.
Please remember that All thirty-one courses now on the SCiO LMS are discounted 10% to members – use the discount code MEMBER10 when booking. The courses currently available are here.
Multi-course discounts: There is a discount of 20% for any four or more courses and 25% for considerably more. The full set of courses (including future additions) can be had with a 30% discount and this includes access to coaching.
Organisational Development Programmes: If your organisation is interested to use any or all of the courses, substantial discounts of around 50% are available and bespoke programmes can be prepared.
2026 CONFERENCE
We hope to see you at the 2026 Conference: Systems Thinking Systems Practice, taking place at Hull University from 24–26 March 2026.
This three-day conference is bringing together practitioners, leaders, academics and system thinkers from across sectors to explore how systems thinking is being applied in practice to address today’s complex organisational, social and policy challenges. The programme will combine thought-provoking keynotes, practical case studies, and opportunities for dialogue, reflection and connection with others working systemically in real-world contexts.
The conference is organised by Hull University’s Centre for Systems Studies in partnership with SCiO, the OR Society and the IFSR, and will be of particular interest to those working in leadership, public services, healthcare, local government, voluntary and community sectors, and organisational development.
The FULL PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME is now available here. The details of the sessions can be seen by clicking on the tiny tabs at the bottom. Alternatively access these through the Conference menu on our website.
Tue, Mar 24th, 2026 – Thu, Mar 26th, 2026 11:30 – 14:30 GMT
For the first time ever, leading institutions representing a broad range of systems thinking methods and approaches are coming together for a landmark conference on Systems Thinking and Systems Practice.
This conference has been shaped with input from a wide-ranging committee, including members of the UK government’s Systems Thinking Interest Group (STIG) and the International Federation for Systems Research (IFSR). It’s a unique chance to connect with others across the field, share different perspectives, and explore the future of systems practice…..
All welcome; £100 – £250; Hull University Business School, Hull HU6 7RX; English BOOK NOW
SCiO’s Development Event offer an opportunity to draw upon the collective expertise of SCiO members in a friendly and supportive atmosphere. By taking Development Events online, using the Zoom meeting platform, we aim to make them accessible to more SCiO members. Development Events are both for members who are just starting out on a journey to explore Systems Thinking approaches, and for those who have many years of exploration and practice. This is a bring your issues of interest Development Event.
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In een tijd waarin bedrijven steeds vaker worden aangesproken op hun sociale en ecologische impact, dringt één vraag zich steeds sterker op: Hoe maak je negatieve impact in je productieketen zichtbaar — en hoe neem je daar samen verantwoordelijkheid voor op?
Veel organisaties botsen op dezelfde uitdaging: elke speler vertrekt vanuit zijn eigen noden, rol en beperkingen. Hoe kan je dan tóch systemisch denken en handelen in een complexe ketenomgeving?
Tijdens deze sessie delen Saartje Boutsen en Charlotte Vandierendonck, co-oprichters van Studio D, hun pragmatische aanpak om ketenverantwoordelijkheid werkbaar en gedragen te maken. Vanuit hun ervaring met bedrijven en organisaties reiken ze inzichten, tips en concrete handvaten aan om het gesprek en de samenwerking in de keten op gang te brengen en duurzaam te verankeren….
Members only + guests; 10 euro; Kon. Astridlaan 144, 2800 Mechelen, Belgium; Dutch BOOK NOW
Zwischenergebnisse einer laufenden Dissertation zur Messbarkeit organisationaler Komplexität im industriellen Umfeld. Im Fokus: Wie nehmen operative Führungskräfte steigende Komplexität wahr – und inwieweit lässt sich diese Wahrnehmung datenbasiert im Unternehmen abbilden? Ein praxisnaher Einblick in erste Befunde, methodisches Vorgehen und weiterführende Forschungsfragen.
We are at a critical juncture where traditional, hierarchical governance systems often struggle to navigate the complexities of the climate emergency and mounting social inequalities. You are cordially invited to a special webinar launch event hosted by SCiO Finland to explore the findings of a recent systemic co-inquiry: “Understanding and Achieving Systemic Governance: Lessons from Finland”. Finland is internationally recognised for its innovative “humble governance” and trust-based autonomy, yet these systemic approaches face significant challenges in becoming “sticky” within traditional bureaucratic structures. We will dive into…..
Organisaatiot ovat yhä suorituskykyisempiä. Ne optimoivat prosesseja, asettavat tavoitteita, seuraavat mittareita ja palkitsevat onnistumista. Nämä vahvuudet eivät kuitenkaan välttämättä takaa kestävää menestystä tai organisaation elinkelpoisuutta pitkällä aikavälillä. Esityksessä tarkastellaan suorituskykyä organisoivana logiikkana sekä sen rakenteellisia rajoja. Keskustelemme siitä, miten tavoitteilla johtaminen ja suorituskyvyn optimointi menettävät tehoaan ympäristöissä, joissa epälineaarisuus lisääntyy ja arviointikriteerit muuttuvat epävakaiksi, sekä siitä, kuinka nämä rajat usein tulkitaan toimeenpanon ongelmiksi sen sijaan, että kyseenalaistettaisiin taustalla olevia perusoletuksia. Esityksessä tehdään erottelu suorituskykylogiikan ja adaptiivisen logiikan välillä. Tarkoitus ei ole hylätä suorituskykyä, vaan paikantaa sen rajat – ja avata tilaa toisenlaiselle organisoinnin logiikalle.
SCIO-NL komt elke 1e of 2e vrijdag van de maand live bijeen, meestal in Woerden (Pelmolenlaan 2). Er staan (meestal) geen vaste onderwerpen op de agenda (daarvoor organiseren we specifieke andere meetings), maar de ervaring leert dat er altijd wel een interessant gesprek op gang komt over een systemisch onderwerp. Toegankelijk voor iedereen die de jaarlijkse fee voor de live-bijeenkomsten (€50,-) hiervoor betaald. En voor KNVI-leden. En voor gasten. Neem contact op via ed@doitogether.nl als je interesse hebt, maar nog geen lid van de club bent.
SCIO-NL komt elke 1e of 2e vrijdag van de maand live bijeen, meestal in Woerden (Pelmolenlaan 2). Er staan (meestal) geen vaste onderwerpen op de agenda (daarvoor organiseren we specifieke andere meetings), maar de ervaring leert dat er altijd wel een interessant gesprek op gang komt over een systemisch onderwerp. Toegankelijk voor iedereen die de jaarlijkse fee voor de live-bijeenkomsten (€50,-) hiervoor betaald. En voor KNVI-leden. En voor gasten. Neem contact op via ed@doitogether.nl als je interesse hebt, maar nog geen lid van de club bent.
Sam Lemley samlemley@cmu.edu, Curator of Special Collections, CMU Libraries
OVERVIEW
This document is an evolving definition of the Re-Braiding Cybernetics & Artificial Intelligence Project comprising a series of quarterly online symposia from March 2026 through March 2027, culminating in an exhibit in CMU’s Posner Center→ in Spring 2027, followed by dissemination of documentation of the discourse and outcomes of the project.
Founder Community Capacity Builders (including Centre for Autistic Social Entrepreneurship), Systems Social Entrepreneurship Researcher & Practitioner, Proudly AuDHD (Autistic and ADHD).Founder Community Capacity Builders (including Centre for Autistic Social Entrepreneurship), Systems Social Entrepreneurship Researcher & Practitioner, Proudly AuDHD (Autistic and ADHD).
Looking forward to using this system transition framework from my 2014 PhD in two programs that Community Capacity Builders is piloting in the next couple of months. The framework is being used in an Active Citizenship for Systems Change Program that is being piloted with local government, and a Program for Supporting Autistic Social Entrepreneurs that is being piloted with a disability network. Does anyone know of any complex systems conferences being held later in the year? I’m keen to present the learnings from these pilots.
The Spark: Cuts and Constructivism in Cybernetics I was inspired to write this by Harish’s terrific post, An Introduction to Cybernetic Constructivism. It struck a chord with my ongoing interest understanding Biological Constraints or the Cybernetic Cut.
Let us summarize the outlook on differential logic we’ve reached so far. We’ve been considering a class of operators on universes of discourse, each of which takes us from considering one universe of discourse to considering a larger universe of discourse An operator of that general type, namely, acts on each proposition of the source universe to produce a proposition of the target universe
The operators we’ve examined so far are the enlargement or shift operator and the difference operator The operators and act on propositions in that is, propositions of the form which amount to propositions about the subject matter of and they produce propositions of the form which amount to propositions about specified collections of changes conceivably occurring in
At this point we find ourselves in need of visual representations, suitable arrays of concrete pictures to anchor our more earthy intuitions and help us keep our wits about us as we venture into ever more rarefied airs of abstraction.
One good picture comes to us by way of the field concept. Given a space a field of a specified type over is formed by associating with each point of an object of type If that sounds like the same thing as a function from to the space of things of type — it is nothing but — and yet it does seem helpful to vary the mental images and take advantage of the figures of speech most naturally springing to mind under the emblem of the field idea.
In the field picture a proposition becomes a scalar field, that is, a field of values in
For example, consider the logical conjunction shown in the following venn diagram.
Each of the operators takes us from considering propositions here viewed as scalar fields over to considering the corresponding differential fields over analogous to what in real analysis are usually called vector fields over
Two views of how the difference operator acts on the set of sixteen functions are shown below. Table A5 shows the expansion of over the set of ordinary variables and Table A6 shows the expansion of over the set of differential variables.
A first view of how the shift operator acts on the set of sixteen functions was provided by Table A3 in the previous post, expanding the expressions of over the set of ordinary variables.
A complementary view of the same material is provided by Table 4 below, this time expanding the expressions of over the set of differential variables.
We are pleased to inform that, following many requests, we are extending the abstract submission deadline for ASC Brasil 2026: Conversational Confluences to March 16, 2026!
Many universities and research groups require an approved abstract to apply for travel funding or registration confirmation. Submit by March 16 to receive feedback and approval by early April.
🗓️ Deadline: March 16, 2026 📍 Ouro Preto, Brazil | August 3–7, 2026
there is associated an object of the following type: a proposition about changes in 
that is, a proposition 
In that frame of reference, if 
is the universe generated by the set of coordinate propositions 
then 
is the differential universe generated by the set of differential propositions 
The differential propositions 
and 
may thus be interpreted as indicating 
and 
respectively.
of the first order type we are currently considering, takes a proposition 
and gives back a differential proposition 
In the field view of the scene, we see the proposition 
as a vector field, specifically, a field of propositions about contemplated changes in 
on 
is shown in the following venn diagram.
![\begin{array}{rcccccc} \mathrm{E}(pq) & = & p & \cdot & q & \cdot & \texttt{(} \mathrm{d}p \texttt{)(} \mathrm{d}q \texttt{)} \\[4pt] & + & p & \cdot & \texttt{(} q \texttt{)} & \cdot & \texttt{(} \mathrm{d}p \texttt{)~} \mathrm{d}q \texttt{~} \\[4pt] & + & \texttt{(} p \texttt{)} & \cdot & q & \cdot & \texttt{~} \mathrm{d}p \texttt{~(} \mathrm{d}q \texttt{)} \\[4pt] & + & \texttt{(} p \texttt{)} & \cdot & \texttt{(} q \texttt{)} & \cdot & \texttt{~} \mathrm{d}p \texttt{~~} \mathrm{d}q \texttt{~} \end{array}](https://s0.wp.com/latex.php?latex=%5Cbegin%7Barray%7D%7Brcccccc%7D++%5Cmathrm%7BE%7D%28pq%29+++%26+%3D+%26+p+%26+%5Ccdot+%26+q+%26+%5Ccdot+%26++%5Ctexttt%7B%28%7D+%5Cmathrm%7Bd%7Dp+%5Ctexttt%7B%29%28%7D+%5Cmathrm%7Bd%7Dq+%5Ctexttt%7B%29%7D++%5C%5C%5B4pt%5D++%26+%2B+%26+p+%26+%5Ccdot+%26+%5Ctexttt%7B%28%7D+q+%5Ctexttt%7B%29%7D+%26+%5Ccdot+%26++%5Ctexttt%7B%28%7D+%5Cmathrm%7Bd%7Dp+%5Ctexttt%7B%29%7E%7D+%5Cmathrm%7Bd%7Dq+%5Ctexttt%7B%7E%7D++%5C%5C%5B4pt%5D++%26+%2B+%26+%5Ctexttt%7B%28%7D+p+%5Ctexttt%7B%29%7D+%26+%5Ccdot+%26+q+%26+%5Ccdot+%26++%5Ctexttt%7B%7E%7D+%5Cmathrm%7Bd%7Dp+%5Ctexttt%7B%7E%28%7D+%5Cmathrm%7Bd%7Dq+%5Ctexttt%7B%29%7D++%5C%5C%5B4pt%5D++%26+%2B+%26+%5Ctexttt%7B%28%7D+p+%5Ctexttt%7B%29%7D+%26+%5Ccdot+%26+%5Ctexttt%7B%28%7D+q+%5Ctexttt%7B%29%7D+%26+%5Ccdot+%26++%5Ctexttt%7B%7E%7D+%5Cmathrm%7Bd%7Dp+%5Ctexttt%7B%7E%7E%7D+%5Cmathrm%7Bd%7Dq+%5Ctexttt%7B%7E%7D++%5Cend%7Barray%7D&bg=ffffff&fg=000000&s=0&c=20201002)
specifies the changes which need to be made from each point of 
that is, in order to satisfy the proposition 
on 
![\begin{array}{rcccccc} \mathrm{D}(pq) & = & p & \cdot & q & \cdot & \texttt{((} \mathrm{d}p \texttt{)(} \mathrm{d}q \texttt{))} \\[4pt] & + & p & \cdot & \texttt{(} q \texttt{)} & \cdot & \texttt{~(} \mathrm{d}p \texttt{)~} \mathrm{d}q \texttt{~~} \\[4pt] & + & \texttt{(} p \texttt{)} & \cdot & q & \cdot & \texttt{~~} \mathrm{d}p \texttt{~(} \mathrm{d}q \texttt{)~} \\[4pt] & + & \texttt{(} p \texttt{)} & \cdot & \texttt{(}q \texttt{)} & \cdot & \texttt{~~} \mathrm{d}p \texttt{~~} \mathrm{d}q \texttt{~~} \end{array}](https://s0.wp.com/latex.php?latex=%5Cbegin%7Barray%7D%7Brcccccc%7D++%5Cmathrm%7BD%7D%28pq%29+++%26+%3D+%26+p+%26+%5Ccdot+%26+q+%26+%5Ccdot+%26++%5Ctexttt%7B%28%28%7D+%5Cmathrm%7Bd%7Dp+%5Ctexttt%7B%29%28%7D+%5Cmathrm%7Bd%7Dq+%5Ctexttt%7B%29%29%7D++%5C%5C%5B4pt%5D++%26+%2B+%26+p+%26+%5Ccdot+%26+%5Ctexttt%7B%28%7D+q+%5Ctexttt%7B%29%7D+%26+%5Ccdot+%26++%5Ctexttt%7B%7E%28%7D+%5Cmathrm%7Bd%7Dp+%5Ctexttt%7B%29%7E%7D+%5Cmathrm%7Bd%7Dq+%5Ctexttt%7B%7E%7E%7D++%5C%5C%5B4pt%5D++%26+%2B+%26+%5Ctexttt%7B%28%7D+p+%5Ctexttt%7B%29%7D+%26+%5Ccdot+%26+q+%26+%5Ccdot+%26++%5Ctexttt%7B%7E%7E%7D+%5Cmathrm%7Bd%7Dp+%5Ctexttt%7B%7E%28%7D+%5Cmathrm%7Bd%7Dq+%5Ctexttt%7B%29%7E%7D++%5C%5C%5B4pt%5D++%26+%2B+%26+%5Ctexttt%7B%28%7D+p+%5Ctexttt%7B%29%7D+%26+%5Ccdot+%26+%5Ctexttt%7B%28%7Dq+%5Ctexttt%7B%29%7D+%26+%5Ccdot+%26++%5Ctexttt%7B%7E%7E%7D+%5Cmathrm%7Bd%7Dp+%5Ctexttt%7B%7E%7E%7D+%5Cmathrm%7Bd%7Dq+%5Ctexttt%7B%7E%7E%7D++%5Cend%7Barray%7D&bg=ffffff&fg=000000&s=0&c=20201002)
specifies the changes which need to be made from each point of 
to considering a larger universe of discourse 
An operator 
of that general type, namely, 
acts on each proposition 
and the difference operator 
The operators 
that is, propositions of the form 
which amount to propositions about specified collections of changes conceivably occurring in 
over 
If that sounds like the same thing as a function from 
shown in the following venn diagram.
takes us from considering propositions 
here viewed as scalar fields over 
are shown below. Table A5 shows the expansion of 
over the set 
of differential variables.
over the set 
Systems Community of Inquiry 
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