Growing pains – juggling complexity
Words by:
Patrick Hoverstadt
Date:
February 16, 2026

Growing pains – juggling complexity | Notion

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

🔗 https://lnkd.in/d2fWXUhn

* Contributors who do not require feedback for funding or registration may submit until April 27, 2026.

hashtag#ASCBrasil2026 hashtag#Cybernetics hashtag#CallForParticipation hashtag#ConversationalConfluences hashtag#OuroPreto

ASC Brazil 2026: Conversational Confluences

Call for Participation – Conversational Confluences

I’m looking forward to contributing to the Systems Thinking and Systems Practice 2026 conference at the University of Hull, 24–26 March. This event brings together systems professionals and academics to focus on practical methods for working with complexity.

As well as a keynote ‘systems practice is a humanism’ (https://lnkd.in/eKgzWAJ9), I’ll be leading a session on consulting and facilitation, and joining colleagues from SCiO and the wider field in workshops on soft systems methodology, advanced VSM, mindsets and leadership, complexity and collaboration, patterns of strategy, system laws, and Critical Systems Heuristics. We’re also exploring a practical session on interactive planning.

But it’s not just me and it’s not just workshops – the conference programme at https://lnkd.in/e6kU5hJ9 includes keynote presentations from Mike Burrows, Kim Warren, Denis Fischbacher-Smith, Gillian Harrison, Carla Own, John Seddon AND Dave Snowden, Bartly Madden, Ellen Lewis, Dr Juanita Bernal-Alvarado, Angela Espinosa AND MANY MORE, and panel discussions featuring Patrick Hoverstadt, Kathy Kotiadis, Alison Guthrie-Wrenn, and Dr Mike C Jackson OBE.

This is a chance to engage with systems thinking applied to real challenges, connect with peers across sectors, and deepen your practice. Tickets and programme details are available on the event page: https://lnkd.in/e6kU5hJ9

Society for Economic and Social Cybernetics eV
GWS – Society for Managerial and Social Cybernetics

Registration for the event “100 Years of Frederic Vester” on March 20, 2026
Start   /  Registration for the event “100 Years of Frederic Vester” on March 20, 2026
Welcome to the registration for the anniversary event of the Society for Economic and Social Cybernetics (GWS) on the occasion of the 100th birthday of Prof. Dr. Frederic Vester (1925–2003) .
The online event honors Vester’s work as a biocyberneticist, environmental researcher and pioneer of networked thinking.

participation
The event will take place online . Participation is free of charge , but registration is required . You can use the form on this page to register.

Alternatively, you can register by email to office@gws-kybernetik.org – please include “Registration Vester Event” in the subject line and provide your name, institution, and email address .

After registering, you will receive the Zoom access link by email approximately two days before the event. If you have any questions, please contact office@gws-kybernetik.org .

Registration: 100 Years of Frederic Vester
Friday, March 20, 2026 | 2–4 p.m. | Online (Zoom)

Registration for the event “100 Years of Frederic Vester” on March 20, 2026 – Society for Economic and Social Cybernetics eV

Santa Fe Institute

13 Feb 2026

Giving Groups Control Over the Rules of the Game, in Simulation, in the Lab, and in the Wild

Seth Frey, University of California, Davis

Social systems change in unpredictable ways, particularly when power in them becomes power over them. This affects outcomes for collective behavior, collective intelligence, and collective action. In this work we present observational, experimental, and modeling work on the psychological, selective, and structural forces that cause governance institutions to drift from their that of its intended design.

Learn more, follow us on social media and check out our podcasts:
https://linktr.ee/sfiscience

Giving Groups Control Over the Rules of the Game, in Simulation, in the Lab, and in the Wild – YouTube

Learn how you might apply to join the Problematique Dialogue applying the Banathy Conversation Methodology at the “Re-introducing sLab” event.

• Wednesday, February 25, 2026, 4:00pm to 6:00pm
• OCAD University Graduate Programs, 205 Richmond Street West, Suite 701 Graduate Lounge.

https://problematiquedialogue.org/

Problematique Dialogue, May 10 to 15, 2026, at OCAD University
Learn how you might apply to join the Problematique Dialogue applying the Banathy Conversation Methodology at the “Re-introducing sLab” event.

Wednesday, February 25, 2026, 4:00pm to 6:00pm
OCAD University Graduate Programs, 205 Richmond Street West, Suite 701 Graduate Lounge.

Problematique Dialogue, organized by sLab at OCAD University.

As I just posted in that group:

Systems Thinking network is weird and wild again!

Blimey. I just went through and approved a massive backlog of posts – all of us administrators of this group (speaking for myself anyway) are a bit benevolently negligent.

It feels a bit as though we are back to ‘the good (?) old days’ of lots of wide-ranging stuff being posted here – perhaps fewer discussions, but I feel a change in the LinkedIn algorithm and it seems more of this kind of natural content is back.

what can it mean?!

François Trudel

Senior Software Engineer | Technical Leader.

February 16, 2026

Systems Thinking: Unraveling Conway’s Law

François Trudel
Senior Software Engineer | Technical Leader.


February 16, 2026

(8) Systems Thinking: Unraveling Conway’s Law | LinkedIn

Posted by Catriona Burke in the Systems Thinking Network group on LinkedIn

Senior leaders today operate at the intersection of 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬: 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. These conditions are systemic, contested, emergent and deeply embedded. Optimisation approaches and linear, reductionist logic have extremely limited contributions to make in these contexts.

Following increasing calls globally for an alternative paradigm, after several years of design, consultation and engagement with leading international scholarship and practice, I am pleased, as Academic Director, to announce the launch of a new 𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐃𝐁𝐀 (𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩, 𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧) at Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick, Ireland.

This programme is built on a different premise: that 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 in the 21st century 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐱 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬. 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞’𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞.

The design furthermore brings into deliberate relationship four elements:
• The senior leader as practitioner-scholar, operating with real authority and responsibility
• A high-stakes complex phenomenon embedded in the leader’s context
• Cutting-edge knowledge frontiers spanning disciplines and epistemologies
• Advanced research mastery enabling rigorous, reflexive, transdisciplinary inquiry

Together, these enable the creation of knowledge that is simultaneously academically robust, practically consequential, and societally relevant.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🎓 Programme Structure for Senior Leaders
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🏛️ Immersive residencies – Intensive week-long sessions per taught semester (4 in total)
🌍 Leadership Summits – Dialogue with global thought leaders and peers (3 in total)
🤝 A global learning ecosystem – Sustained intellectual and practical support
🌐 Research focus – A complex organisational or societal phenomenon privileging actionable knowledge and real world impact
👥 Cohort – Exclusively experienced senior leaders across sectors

It is a doctorate designed for leaders who 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, not merely adapt to it. We welcome enquiries from senior leaders prepared to undertake demanding intellectual work in pursuit of 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭.

📄 Programme brochure: https://bit.ly/4axBjpb
📩 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚.𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐤𝐞@𝐮𝐥.𝐢𝐞

Post | Feed | LinkedIn

DYLAN LEVI KING OCTOBER 17, 2022 ARTICLES
The Genealogy of Chinese Cybernetics

The Genealogy of Chinese Cybernetics

The Critical Legacy of Chinese Cybernetics

Five Moments in the History of Chinese Cybernetics

In today’s post, I want to look at a question that seems almost too simple to ask: when does a system exist? For this I will be drawing on ideas from…

When Does a System Exist? The Myth of the Given System:

No Way Out -The OODA Loop and Flow Podcast

Unlocking the Real OODA Loop: Cybernetics, AI, and Epstein’s Hidden Connections – YouTube

audio link

 February 16, 2026  daviding

Problematique Dialogue + Conversation as Process and Connection | Systems Thinking Ontario | 20260209
February 16, 2026 daviding

Problematique Dialogue + Conversation as Process and Connection |… – Coevolving Innovations

VSM and Viablity Canvas
now at https://salon.tautai.net/

VSM and Viablity Canvas

h/t Ivo Velitchkov

Introduction

What is systems thinking? The answer depends on whom you ask. Here are two commonperspectives from which you will get two different answers. Engineering. Here, systems thinking is what you need to build a system whose requirements go beyond current practice. Example: all stages in a plan to evolve into a national energy distribution system for low-emission transportation. Metapolitics (a neologism analogous to metamathematics). Here, systems thinking is what you need (1)to understand the ambient social systems in which we all have unconsciously long been embedded, and (2)to use that understanding to attempt to bring these systems into alignment with current needs, given some disruptive change such as newtechnology or increased scale. Example: modifying the global economy in response to climate change.

This essay is based on the Metapolitics perspective. In two Examples I explore perverse behavior patterns of two ambient social systems, a newoneandanolder one: 1. mass radicalization, disinformation, and other perverse social consequences secondary to new technologies that facilitate intensive everyone-to-everyone communication (for example, “social networking”), and 2. environmental destruction secondary to a compulsion to grow arising from the financing structures of public corporations. Analysis of both of these behavior patterns reveals a common element: Emergent behaviors, not anticipated in classical thinking, arise from highly intraconnected or coupled networks. This failure of classical thought leads to The Big Lesson I wish to communicate in this essay: THINK NETWORKSFIRST, ACTORS SECOND. Here is the importance of this lesson: Effective interventions will arise from altering interactions within networks. You cannot even see these interactions unless you focus on the network. This essay offers two examples that contradict the conventional understanding of Network Effects. We are living inside something we don’t understand.