Scientific evidence that’s been accumulating for decades points to ways in which suppressing fire leads to unhealthy forests.

Rethinking fire with data analytics and systems design

MIT frameworks are helping the U.S. Forest Service find solutions to fire.

MIT Sloan Executive Education
February 12, 2020

Press Inquiries

From record-setting fires in the western United States to the devastating and still-blazing bushfires in Australia, it is increasingly apparent that society must forge a new relationship with fire. Factors that include changing climate, expanding human development, and accumulating fuels mean new approaches are needed, and many experts are calling for increasing resiliency by suppressing fewer fires and accelerating forest restoration.

Yes, you read that correctly — suppressing fewer fires.

Scientific evidence that’s been accumulating for decades points to the ways that suppressing fire leads to unhealthy forests. Ongoing research by the U.S. Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, shows how short-term gain from suppression can condition the landscape for future, even-greater fires burning in extreme conditions, and MIT Sloan Executive Education has had a hand in translating that thinking into action.

Matthew Thompson is a research forester at the U.S. Forest Service, where he works in the Human Dimensions Program at Rocky Mountain Research Station in Colorado and focuses on the human dimension of natural resource problems. An engineer by training, with a PhD from Oregon State University in forest engineering, Thompson has worked with the agency for about a decade. Core to his work is understanding how best to catalyze desired changes in fire manager behavior in terms of individual fire events and over time. He believes that changes in fire manager decisions regarding response strategies and tactics will be necessary to change fire outcomes.

Continues in source: Rethinking fire with data analytics and systems design | MIT News

Continues in source: No food, no fuel, no phones: bushfires showed we’re only ever one step from system collapse

Robyn O’Brien: Following the ‘North Star’ in food systems transformation

Carrie Norton

Friday, February 7, 2020 – 1:12am

As the environmental and business landscapes continue to evolve, there’s a common thread: Systems thinking has never been more critical to solving the pressing issues of our time. And few challenges are more urgent than food system transformation.

To explore the intersection of food, finance and women’s leadership, I recently sat down with Robyn O’Brien, co-founder of rePlant Capital and a former financial and food industry analyst. Following is an excerpt from our discussion on courageous leadership, systems thinking and following the North Star in the journey toward the future of food.

Carrie Norton: What have you learned over the last decade that you’re taking with you into this next decade?

Robyn O’Brien: This month, I spent a fair amount of time reflecting on the last decade because It was 10 years ago that my book, “The Unhealthy Truth,” was published. I think one of the most important lessons I have learned is that courage is contagious — and one of the bravest things we can do is to own our own story.

I have this strange combination in my background: attending business school on a full scholarship to Rice University, going into investments on a team that managed $20 billion in assets, being a mother of four, launching a hedge fund. That doesn’t fit into anybody’s “box.” It made a lot of people uncomfortable, and I had to confront that discomfort. Through the process, I realized that discomfort is really just growth.

Our food system has a systemic, structural problem. In every problem, there is an enormous opportunity to create really smart systems that address the challenges we’re seeing. And to me, that’s inspiring. That’s my focus moving into the next decade: innovation and inspiration.

Norton: What you’re describing here is a solutions orientation.

O’Brien: Exactly. We need a lot of people around the table — farmers in particular. Our farm economy is completely upside down; there’s more than $426 billion in farmer debt. When I stand on these farms in Kansas or Nebraska or Ohio, my first thought is, what young family would want to move out here to grow our country’s food?

My second question is, what happens if they don’t? What happens if we really are hitting this shortage of farmers, this crisis in the U.S. farm economy? Additionally, farmers are hit with fires and floods and droughts. No one person or organization can solve this crisis. But if we come together as a country, we can.

Continues in source: Robyn O’Brien: Following the ‘North Star’ in food systems transformation | GreenBiz

What do education, cybernetics, music, technology and philosophy have in common?

Wednesday, 12 February 2020

Brains and Institutions: Why Institutions need to be more Brain-like

I was grateful to Oleg for pointing out the double meaning in Beer’s Brain of the Firm last week: it wasn’t so much that there was a brain that could be unmasked in the viable institution; firms – institutions, universities, corporations, societies – were brains. Like brains, they are adaptive. Like brains they do things with information which we cannot quite fathom – except that we consider our concepts of “information processing” which we have developed into computer science – as a possible function of brains. But brains and firms are not computers. That we have considered that they are is one of our great mistakes of the modern age. It was believing this that led to the horrors of the 20th century.

So what is the message of Brain of the Firm? It is that firms, brains, universities, societies share a common topology. In the Brain of the Firm, Beer got as close as he could to articulating that topology. It was not a template. It was not a plan. It was not a recipe for effective organisation. It was not a framework for discussion. It was a topology. It was an expression of the territory within which distinctions are formed. Topology is a kind of geometry of the mind.

Continues in source: Improvisation Blog: Brains and Institutions: Why Institutions need to be more Brain-like

For full links go to http://go2.wpi.edu/STpresentations

WPI Systems Thinking Colloquium 2019

Guest Speaker Presentations

Thank you for attending our Systems Thinking Colloquium this past fall. Please find below a wealth of content from some of our special guest speakers, systems thinking experts from around the world. Presentation materials are listed in alphabetical order by speaker.

We hope to see you at future WPI events! 

“And?”

Gene Bellinger – Storyteller 

• Presentation summary

“DSRP is Universal to Systems Thinking”

Derek Cabrera, PhD and Laura Cabrera, PhD – Cornell University

• Presentation summary

“Perspectives on Systems Thinking: An Integrative System Dynamics Approach”

Robert Y. Cavana – Reader in Systems Science, Victoria Business School, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

• Presentation summary

“Systems Thinking: The Elephant in the Room”

Joseph E. Kasser – DSc, CEng, CM, FIET, FIES, FINCOSE, CMALT, G3ZCZ 

• Presentation summary
• Presentation slide deck

“Systems Thinking: An Economist’s Perspective”

Michael J. Radzicki, Ph.D. – Worcester Polytechnic Institute

• Presentation summary
• Presentation slide deck

“Reflections on Systems Thinking”

Donna H. Rhodes – Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Presentation summary
• Presentation slide deck

“My Take on System Dynamics”

Khalid Saeed – Professor of Economics and System Dynamics, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

• Presentation summary
• Presentation slide deck

“Systems Thinking: A Catalyst for Purposeful Change”

David Peter Stroh – Principal, Bridgeway Partners and Author, Systems Thinking for Social Change

• Presentation summary

“Why Systems Thinking is Not a Natural Act”

Ricardo Valerdi – University of Arizona

• Presentation summary
• Presentation slide deck

via ST Colloquium

via (1) Jennifer Campbell on Twitter: “Complimentary to you! ✔️ If you have already downloaded your Systems Change Leadership Journey™ framework, congratulations on obtaining your own copy. If not, click here. https://t.co/HRjgaoPEkq #systemicleadership #systemsthinking #changeleadership #change #systems” / Twitter

Jennifer’s work is always worth looking at.

via Francisco Varela on science, art and religion 1983 – YouTube

Inspired by this tweet, which has an excerpt: https://twitter.com/jakeorthwein/status/1226606543006658560?s=12

via Gurwinder on Twitter: “MEGATHREAD TIME: In 40 tweets I will describe 40 powerful concepts for understanding the world. Some are complex so forgive me for oversimplifying, but the main purpose is to incite curiosity. Okay, here we go:” / Twitter

WHAT’S THE PONT
Bridging People and Ideas……
Trojan Mice in 900 Seconds
FEBRUARY 9, 2020 BY WHATSTHEPONT
Be careful what you wish for… After blathering on about Trojan Mice for ages people have actually paid attention. Thank you Paul Taylor for the mentions in this post The Complex Problem with Big Change Programmes and People Aren’t Sick of Change, They are Sick of Change Programmes.

There’s an important point in Paul’s posts. Trying to change things in a straightforward, highly predictable and controlled environment is very different to trying to change things in a complex, unpredictable and uncontrolled environment. It’s not just a case of using the same tools to do a different job. You wouldn’t expect a carpenter to fix your gas boiler with a hammer and chisel. Trojan Mice are not the same as Prince 2 Project Management (although they do need a proportional level of management).

Thanks also to Neil Prior from Practice Solutions who arranged for me to explain the concept of Trojan Mice to a live audience. This is where the 900 seconds comes in. It’s basically 15 standard minutes, sounding a bit more interesting and hopefully attention grabbing.

900 Seconds of Trojan Mice. Here are the visuals I’m going to use in my 900 seconds; five of them. So that’s roughly three minutes a drawing. I’m posting them here as a bit of a road test. Any comments or observations gratefully received.

Setting the scene and planting the key messages: hopefully this does what it says on the tin. I think I should emphasise that this is about an approach to complex situations. It’s not an attack on project management and Prince 2 , they are approaches designed for controlled environments. Trojan Mice are about probing and gathering data to make sense of complex problems.

continues in source: Trojan Mice in 900 Seconds – What’s the PONT

Applications Invited for Food Systems Leadership Retreat in Oregon
Posted on February 6, 2020 in Latest News by Tracy Mumma
Applications close on February 24, 2020, for the Food Systems Leadership Retreat hosted by the Wallace Center’s Food Systems Leadership Network in Canby, Oregon, April 27-30, 2020. The retreat is a 2.5-day facilitated convening of food systems leaders that digs deep into the tools of systems leadership and systems thinking for social change. Participants are guided through hands-on, experiential workshops that will strengthen leadership skills, offer new tools for mapping and finding change levers, and support their growth as effective facilitators of community change processes. This retreat will convene leaders from the Northwest region who are working on equitable economic development through food and agriculture. This opportunity is available to staff and leaders from nonprofit organizations and organizations with fiscal sponsors.

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via Applications Invited for Food Systems Leadership Retreat in Oregon | ATTRA | Sustainable Agriculture Program

In Too Deep
Cultivating energy for systems change | Episode 11
JANUARY 13, 2020
In Too Deep
Cultivating energy for systems change | Episode 11
00:00 | 40:37
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SHOW NOTES
This week we’re joined by Chris Block, who is currently the Chronic Homelessness Initiative Director at Tipping Point Foundation. Previously he was the CEO of American Leadership Forum, Silicon Valley, as well as a number of other roles all really in the thick of it, as a systems leader working on systems change. I think you’ll find he has a fascinating background, with lots of insights to share, so let’s dive in.

Read the full transcript on the In Too Deep blog.

via Cultivating energy for systems change | Episode 11

THE ADJACENT POSSIBLE
A Talk with Stuart A. Kauffman [11.9.03]
An autonomous agent is something that can both reproduce itself and do at least one thermodynamic work cycle. It turns out that this is true of all free-living cells, excepting weird special cases. They all do work cycles, just like the bacterium spinning its flagellum as it swims up the glucose gradient. The cells in your body are busy doing work cycles all the time.

source THE ADJACENT POSSIBLE | Edge.org

source Seven conceptions of ‘systems change’: A starting point for intervention | Saïd Business School

Expert comment

30 January 2020

Seven conceptions of ‘systems change’: A starting point for intervention

RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS

Marc Ventresca

Associate Professor of Strategic Management and Principal Investigator, Systems Change Observatory

Paulo Savaget

Systems Change Postdoctoral Researcher, Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship

Marc Ventresca Paulo Savaget Systems change Skoll Centre for Social EntrepreneurshipSystems Change Observatory Social impact UN SDGs

Almost a year on, the Systems Change Observatory at the Skoll Centre shares early research findings

 

How do you solve wicked problems such as climate change, global poverty and wealth inequality – issues core to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?

Global changemakers and social impact institutions broadly agree: Persistent problems demand systemic solutions. In other words, they require coordinated institutional efforts to drive long-lasting systems change.

How do we get started with this? How do we actively steer systems change to address the most pressing issues of our time?

To begin, there are several challenges to consider. One, systems change takes time and resources. Two, there is no single view about how systems change actually works. Three, it is unclear how standard research can inform practice and policy for systems change.

The Systems Change Observatory (SCO), a research initiative from the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, seeks to address these challenges directly. Combining research and practice, it strives to create what Skoll Centre Director Dr Peter Drobac calls ‘a practical roadmap for changing the world.’

Conceptions of systems change

The SCO is focused on mapping how systems change is practised in key sectors, with attention to both global North and South contexts. Led by Professor Marc Ventresca, the three-year research initiative leverages data from 110 social ventures – representing a wide range of industries and varied focus on systems change – captured over 15 years. In addition, the baseline research draws upon public information from many of the world’s most influential social impact funders, and also builds on relevant work from other academic centres and global agencies.

‘Academic approaches often grapple with “whole system” approaches’, according to Ventresca. ‘Our team is engaging these familiar models and also exploring a novel starting point: intervention and problem-solving tools, grounded in empirical cases. The world is messy, complex. We pay attention to research that integrates practice and theory, a first step in directly supporting changemakers in the world.’

In August 2019, the SCO team outlined early research findings at the Academy of Management research conference in Boston. Specifically, the team presented the different ways key funders operationalise ‘systems change’ in practice rather than in theory. These amount to seven conceptions of systems change.

‘Ours is not a theory-driven framework’, notes Dr Paulo Savaget, a postdoctoral researcher on the team. ‘These are the conceptions that funders like Acumen, Skoll, the Gates Foundation and AKDN have supported to effectively respond to systematic challenges. Each makes key assumptions about actors, resources, forms of intervention, and the nature of impact on incumbent activities and behaviours.’

The seven conceptions of systems change the research identifies include:

1. Disrupt the status quo. Build momentum to transform ‘mainstream’ behaviours and activities, changing what is often seen as taken for granted, inevitable.
2. Explore cause and effect. When a system is not working as it should, identify and address the root causes of a problem instead of its symptoms.
3. Empower people. Democratise power throughout the system and enable disenfranchised people to take action, to have a multiplying effect and address issues ignored by the privileged and powerful.
4. Improve coordination. When agencies act in isolation, they often have little capacity to bring in new actors or try to change the game. Instead, help current players work together, exploring synergies towards common goals.
5. Scale up. Focus on expanding the organisation’s operations, broadening its offerings and extending its reach, to impact more people and other regions.
6. Scale deep. Instead of expanding out, push the organisation to do more in its current area of specialisation with multiplex ties in the local community or region.
7. Go beyond your organisation. Engage a broader view of the boundaries and expectations of what the organisation can and should do, engaging with broader opportunities with stakeholders and the ecosystem.

Building a ‘hub’ for systems change

The seven conceptions are a starting point for further research and engagement with key SCO stakeholders. This work will centre on trialling the findings, refining them and converting them into actionable insights. For the next phase of research, the SCO will investigate how systems change is pursued, framed, measured and ultimately legitimised.

While the near-term goal is to understand how systems change is practised in diverse and complex contexts around the world, the longer-term goal is something more ambitious: to enrich and change the model of engagement with different stakeholders and catalyse positive change.

‘Currently, the way experts and practitioners engage with one another is uneven and has little “translational” research guidance,’ Ventresca explains. ‘Our Skoll Centre at the Saïd Business School has an opportunity to become a hub for systems change – to bring actors together, foster collaboration, streamline efforts and build a sense of common purpose among social entrepreneurs and other changemakers, researchers, consultants, foundations and universities.’

Acknowledgements:  We thank colleagues at the Skoll Centre, the Skoll Foundation and among Skoll Scholar alumni for early comments. The SCO research team also includes Nikhil Dugal, Lu Cheng and Skoll Centre Associate Director for Programmes, Dr Zainab Kabba, with media support from Georgia Rafferty.

source Seven conceptions of ‘systems change’: A starting point for intervention | Saïd Business School