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Using ‘Systems Thinking’ To Make Sense Of The World, From Pandemics To Politics | On Point

Using ‘Systems Thinking’ To Make Sense Of The World, From Pandemics To Politics47:22

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February 25, 2021

• Hilary McQuilkin
• Meghna Chakrabarti

To solve a puzzle, you never just look at one piece of it. So why do we try to tackle the most complex problems of modern life in such a piecemeal fashion?
From pandemics to politics, we discuss whether shifting to so-called “systems thinking” unlock hidden solutions to the world’s biggest problems. 

Zeynep Tufekci, associate professor at the UNC School of Information and Library Science. Author of the Insight newsletter. (@zeynep)

From The Reading List

New York Times: “To Understand This Era, You Need to Think in Systems” — “So as a million media theorists before me have argued, in a few short decades, or depending on how you want to rate it, a few centuries, we’ve moved from the defining problem of human civilization being information scarcity.”

The Hill: “Systems Thinking — the new American idea” — “Systems Thinking is a somewhat vague concept, but one that is getting increased attention thanks to the news about coronavirus. The premise is simple, but putting Systems Thinking into practice can be challenging, especially for individualistic-minded Americans.”

Get up to speed on the local coronavirus outbreak and other news Boston is talking about. Add our daily newsletter to your morning routine. Sign up now.

The Atlantic: “It Wasn’t Just Trump Who Got It Wrong” — “Many will be tempted to see the tragic coronavirus pandemic through a solely partisan lens: The Trump administration spectacularly failed in its response, by cutting funding from essential health services and research before the crisis, and later by denying its existence and its severity.”

New York Times: “How Zeynep Tufekci Keeps Getting the Big Things Right” — “When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told Americans in January that they didn’t need to wear masks, Dr. S. Vincent Rajkumar, a professor at the Mayo Clinic and the editor of the Blood Cancer Journal, couldn’t believe his ears.”

The Atlantic: “America’s Next Authoritarian Will Be Much More Competent” — “Now that Joe Biden has won the presidency, we can expect debates over whether Donald Trump was an aberration (‘not who we are!’) or another instantiation of America’s pathologies and sins.”

This program aired on February 25, 2021.

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Using ‘Systems Thinking’ To Make Sense Of The World, From Pandemics To Politics | On Point

Complex systems and wicked problems – Thea Snow 133 views•Streamed live on 24 Feb 2021 4 0 SHARE SAVE Design for Impact 94 subscribers SUBSCRIBED In this session, Thea Snow spoke to us about the Cynefin framework and how to apply systems thinking in practical ways. If you want to be part of the next session, come and join us! https://www.designforimpact.co/​​ SHOW LESS

Complex systems and wicked problems – Thea Snow – YouTube

Should be good for systems mapping (maybe some systems dynamics) and that sort of ‘systems change’ (social activism, peacebuilding, philanthropic sort of perspective).

Systems Practice

Systems Practice

Learn to use a systems thinking approach to move from “impossible” to impact

Free May 11, 2021 11 weeks Enroll Now

Learn How To

Map a complex system to gain clarity

Identify specific points in the system where you can make a big impact

Create leverage hypotheses to describe how you will aim to create systemic change

Develop a framework for learning and adapting over time as your system changes

Learn For Free

New courses at no cost—made available every month.

Change Your View Of The World

Draw inspiration from thought-provoking readings, videos, and reflections.

Gain Diverse Perspectives

Learn with a team that brings different experiences and thinking to the table.

Receive A Certificate Of Recognition

Attain a “Statement of Accomplishment” recognizing your successful completion of a course.

T

his is the best approach for solving complex problems I’ve ever seen.

Jakub

Course Syllabus

01

LEARNING TOOLS

35 instructional videos featuring Rob Ricigliano, The Systems and Complexity coach for The Omidyar Group

A 94-page Systems Practice workbook produced by The Omidyar Group and Daylight Design

7 workshop guides that break down each stage of a Systems Practice

7 reading guides featuring in-depth case studies Free access to the Kumu.io platform for systems mapping for course participants

02

SECTION 1: WHAT IS SYSTEMS PRACTICE?

03

SECTION 2: SET A GUIDING STAR AND NEAR STAR FOR YOUR SYSTEM

Video: Systems Thinking Mindsets

Video: Setting Goals for Systems Change

Video: Examples of Guiding Stars, Near Stars, and Framing Questions

Reading 2: Systems Practice in Action with Case Studies

Activity: Developing Your Guiding Star and Near Star

04

SECTION 3: EXPLORE FORCES IN YOUR SYSTEM

Video: Explore the Forces in your System

Video: Enablers and Inhibitors

Video: Upstream and Downstream Effects

Video: Structural, Attitudinal and Transactional Forces

Reading: Explore Forces in Your System

Activity: SAT Analysis

05

SECTION 4: BUILD LOOPS AND DISCOVER THE DEEP STRUCTURE

Video: Tell the Story of Your Loops

Video: Uncover the Deep Structure

Video: Examples of Uncovering Your Deep Structure

Video: Big Picture Reminder: Why Use Systems Practice?

Reading: Uncover the Story of Your System

Activity: Create Loops

Activity: Discover the Deep Structure

06

SECTION 5: MAP YOUR SYSTEM

Video: Build Your Map

Video: Avoid Getting Stuck

Video: Craft Your Systems Narrative

Video: Socialize Your Map

Reading: Map Your System

Activity: Build Your Map

Activity: Craft Your Narrative

Activity: Socialize and Iterate Your Map

07

SECTION 6: FIND OPPORTUNITIES FOR LEVERAGE

Video: Discover Opportunities for Leverage

Video: Tips for Finding Opportunities for Leverage

Video: Develop Leverage Hypotheses

Reading: Find Opportunities for Leverage

Activity: Develop a Systemic Problem Statement

Activity: Find Opportunities for Leverage

Activity: Articulate Leverage Hypotheses

08

SECTION 7: BUILD A SYSTEMS STRATEGY

Video: How to Pick the Right Leverage Hypotheses

Video: Fast and Slow Variables

Video: Scaffold Your Learning

Video: 4 Drivers of Success in the Systems World

Video: Adapt Quickly

Video: Parting Words from Rob

Reading: Build a Systems Strategy

Activity: Evaluate Fit

Activity: Maximize Potential for Leverage

Activity: Develop Key Performance Questions

Activity: Learn from the System

Course Description

With so many interconnected forces at play in our complex world, it’s easy to get discouraged by detours or dead ends when striving to create enduring change. Systems Practice is a way to make sense of complex environments and uncover the dynamics that have the greatest potential for impact.

This course will lead you through each step of understanding a system, analyzing it to find points of leverage, and learning how to adapt in a changing environment. You will also gain a portfolio of step-by-step tools, processes, and mindsets to apply to your current and future work.

Systems Practice Learn to use a systems thinking approach to move from “impossible” to impact Master Innovation Free May 11, 2021 11 Weeks

Systems Practice

Adam is a brilliant systems explainer, a consultant, and happily shares a lot of his conceptual background with me (Viable Systems, particularly a focus here, Systems Leadership Theory (Macdonald et al), Barry Oshry’s power+systems approach and a background in lean with some agile – he also draws from Theory of Constraints (and no doubt many others)

His regular updates and videos are well worth following:

https://zenorganisations.com/

videos directly here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdnbhf4icwDsjhYAD4HyNBQ/videos

main page: https://syspractice.com/

about us: https://syspractice.com/#aboutus

Blog – Systems Practice

Thinking in Systems: a Primer

Posted on February 17, 2021

Thinking in Systems is a concise and crucial book offering insight for problem-solving on scales ranging from the personal to the global.[…]Posted in Books, ResourcesTagged book, systems practice, systems thinking0 Comments

Kumu – Systems Mapping

Posted on February 17, 2021

Kumu is an analytics and visualization platform that creates interactive relationship maps. It can be used to summarise complex datasets with dozens of variables in a visually simple map.[…]Posted in Platform, ResourcesLeave a comment

Systems Practice?

Posted on February 17, 2021

I don’t know about you, but every time I’m asked what it is that I do or “What the heck is Systems Practice?” I actually tell them!

Most people respond “Uhhh?” In this article I’ll share a choice selection of short answers to this question by others, far more famous than myself to see how they explained it

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Blog – Systems Practice

book at source:

ASC Speaker Series #3: Towards a Critical Cybernetics by Klaus Krippendorff Tickets, Sun, Feb 28, 2021 at 9:00 AM | Eventbrite

FEB 28

ASC Speaker Series #3: Towards a Critical Cybernetics by Klaus Krippendorff

by American Society for Cybernetics FollowFree

Event Information

What’s solvable within one context doesn’t necessarily account for the larger social consequences. It’s affected by language.

Klaus Krippendorff has been involved with cybernetic thinking for many decades now. During this presentation he will discuss his current thoughts on what he refers to as “Critical Cybernetics,” as a follow up to his talk, “Agency Algorithms, New Forms of Oppression and How Cybernetics Might Help,“ at the American Society for Cybernetics conference in 2019.

Critical Cybernetics is his response to the observation that people often uncritically focus either on small problems they think are solvable within the context of existing institutions, are satisfied with their own understanding and describing their observations as outsiders, and are unaware of how their language affects what they are describing. All of which make it difficult the larger social consequences of what our interactions with technologies set in motion.

ASC Speakers Series: Cybernetics and humans’ knowing

Participant Bio

Klaus Krippendorff is the Gregory Bateson emeritus professor for cybernetics, language, and culture at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Philadelphia. He was a student of Ross Ashby, is a long-time member of American Society for Cybernetics and has a history of applying cybernetics to social phenomena; communication in particular. Klaus has a background in design which brings him closer to seeing the social world in which we live as being constructed and constantly reconstructed, by actions that are in turn shaped by different discourses, among which the reflexive language of cybernetics is an especially potent one.

Critical Cybernetics

Klaus Krippendorff will present his latest insights about how cybernetic technologies not merely mediate between members of society but tend to confine human agency.

“Critical Cybernetics” is his response to the observation that people often uncritically focus either on small problems they think are solvable within the context of existing institutions, are satisfied with their own understanding and describing their observations as outsiders, and are unaware of how their language affects what they are describing. These approaches make it difficult to address the larger social consequences of what our interactions with technologies set in motion.

• Klaus will show that over the last 50 years, reliance on uncritical cybernetics, namely circular causal explanations, has advanced the design of cybernetic technologies but remained blind to their larger social implications. One of its unintended consequences is the exponential growth of digitalizing business and government practices that thrive on the economic benefits of cybernetic technologies. As a consequence, corporations and bureaucracies have become increasingly automated, algorithmized, and closed to human control, thus rendering the population of innocent users as mere customers and operators.
• Klaus’ main thesis is that our own everyday vocabularies, metaphors in dominant narratives mistakenly attribute agency to technologies and social systems which implies the blind surrender of our own agency and entraps us in submission to the algorithmic logic of cybernetic technologies. Uncritical cybernetics’ lack of considering these social consequences has fed the unfettered growth of huge technologically driven complexes and encouraged a new form of oppression.
• Critical cybernetics is critical insofar as it aims to emancipate members of social systems from burdensome entrapments by uncritically designed and used cybernetic technologies. It recognizes that language not merely describes observations; using it can change observations. Modifications of how we language reality into being can liberate speakers from this new form of oppression. Klaus is not promoting a particular ethic, rather he is encouraging critical cyberneticians, and all who care, into new conversations capable of critically examining the social consequences of all imaginable cybernetic technologies. He argues that this is a way to regain human agency where it was lacking or felt intolerable.

book at source:

ASC Speaker Series #3: Towards a Critical Cybernetics by Klaus Krippendorff Tickets, Sun, Feb 28, 2021 at 9:00 AM | Eventbrite

An Introduction to Systems Thinking for Tackling Wicked Problems | lnu.se

4 MAR 2021 2:00 PM-3:30 PM 

An Introduction to Systems Thinking for Tackling Wicked Problems

Welcome to a seminar in informatics organized by the Linnaeus University Systems Community field of knowledge and Centre for Systems Studies, Faculty of Business, Law and Politics, University of Hull, UK.

Title: An Introduction to Systems Thinking for Tackling Wicked Problems

Lecturer: Gerald Midgley, international guest professor at the Department of Informatics, Linnaeus University

Organizer: Linnaeus University Systems Community and Centre for Systems Studies, Faculty of Business, Law and Politics, University of Hull, UK

Abstract

We are increasingly facing ‘wicked problems’. They are stubborn, challenging and often have to be managed rather than solved. They frequently involve interlinked issues, multiple agencies with different perspectives on both the problem and potential solutions, conflict over desired outcomes or the means to achieve them, power relations making change difficult, and uncertainty about the possible effects of proposed changes. While traditional scientific, policy and management approaches can make a useful contribution, we need something more than these if we want to gain a bigger picture understanding of how to act in the face of wicked problems. Systems thinking can help. In this talk, Gerald Midgley will introduce a framework of systems thinking skills, plus a variety of systems ideas and methods that can help people put these skills into practice. He will illustrate the use of the methods with a number of examples from his own social policy, natural resource management and community development projects in the UK and New Zealand. In this way, he will show how we can begin to get a better handle on wicked problems.

Gerald Midgley is Professor of Systems Thinking in the Centre for Systems Studies, Faculty of Business, Law and Politics, University of Hull, UK. He also holds Adjunct Professorships at Linnaeus University, Sweden; the University of Queensland, Australia; the University of Canterbury, New Zealand; Mälardalen University, Sweden; and Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He has held research leadership roles in both academia and government, having spent ten years as Director of the Centre for Systems Studies at Hull, and seven years as a Senior Science Leader in the Institute for Environmental Science and Research (ESR), New Zealand. Gerald has written over 300 papers for academics and practitioners on systems thinking and community operational research, and has been involved in a wide variety of public sector, community development, health service, technology foresight and resource management projects. He was the 2013/14 President of the International Society for the Systems Sciences, and has written or edited 11 books. These include: Systemic Intervention: Philosophy, Methodology, and Practice (Kluwer, 2000); Systems Thinking, Volumes I-IV (Sage, 2003); Community Operational Research: OR and Systems Thinking for Community Development (Kluwer, 2004); and Forensic DNA Evidence on Trial: Science and Uncertainty in the Courtroom (Emergent, 2011). Gerald is also the editor of a Systems Thinking book series for Routledge, with the first two titles released in 2020, and his forthcoming Routledge Handbook of Systems Thinking will be published in 2021.4 MAR 20212:00 PM3:30 PMVia Zoom, https://lnu-se.zoom.us/j/62265557447Sadaf SalavatiAdd to your calendar

book at source:

An Introduction to Systems Thinking for Tackling Wicked Problems | lnu.se

confrence link – https://isaconf.confex.com/isaconf/forum2020/meetingapp.cgi/Symposium/617

Program of the RC51 (sociocybernetics) ISA FORUM: https://sociocybernetics.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/RC51-ISA-FORUM-PROGRAM.pdf

Organisers say:

“If you are presenting a paper, thanks for being one of the 60 participants have prepared a paper proposal to discuss Sociocybernetics as a way to observe “the Blind Spot of Society” and as a toolbox to think differently. Sessions will include topics such as the digitalization and societal innovation, the transnational spaces and digital divide, complexity and truth. Art, resistance, otherness, ageing, agency, reflexivity, scientific citizenship, democracy and inequalities will be at the core of our debates. The program has some key instructions and particularly a full view of RC51 sessions.  You can also can have a view online of the full RC51 program https://isaconf.confex.com/isaconf/forum2020/meetingapp.cgi/Symposium/617 with links to every session, abstract and participant.“

If you are not presenting paper this time, there is still time to register with View-Only Registration (regular fee USD50, student fee USD25). This will give you access to all 800 live sessions, to the session recordings posted after the Forum & to Congress Program Book & Book Abstracts. Most importantly, you will be able to see the 16 full RC51 program sessions :D.  https://isaconf.confex.com/isaconf/forum2020/registration/call.cgi

The program attached includes a preview of two JoS call for papers. Andrew Mitchell has recently joined the JoS project to be part of the editorial team. Along with Fabio Giglietto, they have produced two CfP. One for the Forum papers and other the special issue on Felix Geyer contributions to Sociocybernetics.  More information in the attachment

RC51 is on the move. Be active part of it.

On behalf of the RC51 Board

Raija, Martina and Patricia

RC51 ISA Forum Coordinators

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Enabling coherent explore spaces. I have written before about the need to… | by Sonja Blignaut | Feb, 2021 | Medium

Enabling coherent explore spaces

Sonja Blignaut1 day ago·16 min read

I have written before about the need to embrace messy coherence or in more technical terms, coherent heterogeneity, a term I first encountered in the work of Dave Snowden. While most intuitively understand this need, how to achieve it practically remains elusive. We are emerging from a time where alignment and efficiency were pursued like the holy grail. The shift towards embracing messiness and diversity seems almost impossible, especially to leaders and managers who equate competence with control. Yet, I encounter similar questions in almost every conversation: how do we distribute decision-making and authority? How do we build strong coherent cultures AND nurture diversity and adaptation? How do we maintain momentum when we are not able to plan and set clear goals? How do we organise and structure ourselves in ways that enable adaptation? There is no recipe for achieving this, however I think a possible key to finding our way lies in understanding how to enable coherence.

Embracing messy coherence requires us to let go of long-held assumptions of a world where stability, certainty and predictability are the norm. In this world, we were taught to use linear, deterministic management methods and tools and also that alignment to shared goals and values is key to success. The COVID19 pandemic and climate change, among others, have made us realize that we do indeed inhabit a complex and entangled world, one that is unpredictable. Like a deer in the headlights, we easily become paralyzed when dealing with uncertainty, which is the last thing we can afford. It is now necessary, for a post-pandemic world, to move forward rather than reverting back to the previous practices that failed us during these recent events.

In Abraham Lincoln’s words, we need to “think anew and act anew.”

The field of complexity, called by some the science of uncertainty, offers us a new lens or worldview when viewing social systems. When we shift from seeing human systems as machines and individuals as controllable and predictable cogs, to viewing them as complex adaptive systems through the lens of complexity science, new possibilities become evident.

(Have a look here if you want to find out more about complexity and the difference between Complex and Ordered systems, have a look at these posts)

In the past, we have relied on ordered systems due to them being predictable and controllable. These closed systems are easily managed through planning, goal setting, measuring, and feedback mechanisms that control the system’s outcomes. Closed systems operate using causal relationships (i.e., control the system’s outcome or ideal future state, B, by altering its input, A). I call this A to B thinking. And it is one of the primary reasons for the focus on alignment I described earlier.

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Enabling coherent explore spaces. I have written before about the need to… | by Sonja Blignaut | Feb, 2021 | Medium

The work of Alexander Bogdanov is attracting increasing attention in physics (Carlos Rovelli), economics (Paul Mason) and systems/cybernetic theory. Here is my short introduction to his work and its contemporary relevance – From 2:32:33 – talk at the Systems Analysis in Economics Conference December 9, 2020, titled ‘Alexander Bogdanov and Modern Systems Theory’:

9 декабря ENG “Системный анализ в экономике – 2020” Пленарное заседание

Streamed live on 9 Dec 2020

Systems Change pursued without Deep Equity is, in our experience, dangerous and can cause harm, and in fact leaves some of the critical elements of systems unchanged.  And “equity” pursued without “Systems Change” is not “deep” nor comprehensive at the level of effectiveness currently needed. Both need each other.– Sheryl Petty and Mark LeachDear friends,We are honored to co-host, in partnership with the Academy for Systems Change, a no-cost webinar exploring the monograph Systems Change & Deep Equity: Pathways Toward Sustainable Impact, Beyond “Eureka!,” Unawareness, and Unwitting Harm.”  The 90-minute session will take place on March 3, 2021 at 11:00 am Pacific/2:00 pm Eastern time.Sheryl Petty, founder & principal of Movement Tapestries, will join us to share highlights from and engage in dialogue about the monograph released last year with Change Elemental.  So many in the U.S. and globally are deepening our reflection or beginning to wake up to long-time unawareness of inequity in our societies and world. This conversation can support that reflection and emergent awakening, galvanizing those in the systems change field further into our practice and commitment to be powerful and humble, collaborative agents of change. We invite you to download and engage with the monograph and join us on March 3. In service, Marta Ceroni, Academy for Systems Change Russ Gaskin, CoCreative  PLEASE NOTE: This session is geared toward those who have read the monograph and/or undertaken some authentic work around equity. Be ready to be lovingly called to action and challenged. Download your copy today.Join the Guestlist

Paradigms, ontology, history, and nationalism…

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Understanding Society: Frankish kings and Mynyddog’s gold …

Understanding Society

Innovative thinking about a global world

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Frankish kings and Mynyddog’s gold …

Chris Wickham’s The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages 400-1000 is a fascinating book to read, if you are interested in how various strands of culture, politics, and economy developed in Europe between the fifth century and the beginning of the eleventh century — that is, between the end of the Roman Empire and the high medieval period. Wickham is an evangelist when it comes to understanding medieval history; he believes that our intellectual culture has seriously misunderstood the nature of society, politics, culture, and religion in the millennium between the fifth century and the fifteenth century. The opening words of the book capture this conviction:

Early medieval Europe has, over and over, been misunderstood. It has fallen victim above all to two grand narratives, both highly influential in the history and history-writing of the last two centuries, and both of which have led to a false image of this period: the narrative of nationalism and the narrative of modernity. Before we consider a different sort of approach, we need to look at both of these, briefly but critically, to see what is wrong with each; for most readers of this book who have not already studied the period will have one or both in the front of their minds as a guiding image. (3)

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Understanding Society: Frankish kings and Mynyddog’s gold …

Insights from complexity science: More trust in self-organization needed Study ‘Systemic Risk: The Threat to Societal Diversity and Coherence’ INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED SUSTAINABILITY STUDIES E.V. (IASS)

Insights from complexity science: More trust in self-organization needed | EurekAlert! Science News

Paper:
Renn, O. and Lucas, K.: Systemic Risk: The Threat to Societal Diversity and Coherence. Risk Analysis, 1 (2021). DOI: 10.1111/risa.13654

https://www.iass-potsdam.de/de/ergebnisse/publikationen/2021/systemic-risk-threat-societal-diversity-and-coherence