Aug 14, 2025
Author Archives: antlerboy - Benjamin P Taylor
Rewiring My Fashion Practice: Reflections on Systems Thinking and Sustainable Futures – Tala (2025)
September 10, 2025
Do Systems Exist? Cyb3rSyn Labs Podcast – Episode 20 – Adams Walls and John Flach
Laksh Raghavan
September 07, 2025
urgent opportunity – two versions of the Level 7 (postgraduate level) Systems Thinking Practitioner Apprenticeship – levy-funded for those employed and working >50% of their time in England
urgent opportunity – two versions of the Level 7 (postgraduate level) Systems Thinking Practitioner Apprenticeship – levy-funded for those employed and working >50% of their time in England
I occasionally forget to promote my own systems | complexity | cybernetics relevant things here. I’ve been deeply involved – though as a second-team participant – in the development of the SCiO professional standard, Apprenticeship standard and trailblazer, apprenticeship delivery, end-point assessment etc.
The Systems Thinking Practitioner Apprenticeship provided by Cherith Simmons, with SCiO providing trainers as an agency service, is taking on what could be the final cohort VERY SOON – https://cherithsimmons.co.uk/apprenticeships/leadership-and-management/stp/
At the end of this year, the government is removing the specific funding for this apprenticeship (£18,000 per head) – though the qualification will remain, and you can access many of the modules here – https://www.systemspractice.org/courses
AND NOW, we have developed a specific variation – in collaboration with the Public Service Transformation Acadmey:
Leading and Commissioning for Outcomes in Complexity: Convening Systems Change
v v v v v v v v v v v v v
If you are employed and work >50% of your time in England, you can get Levy funding for this version of the Systems Thinking Practitioner Level 7 Apprenticeship, delivered by Cherith Simmons with expertise from the PSTA and SCiO, the professional body.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
We have now uploaded all the slides and content from our recent webinar at https://link.redquadrant.com/thebestapprenticeship and added Q&A.
We are targeting cohort start dates on Friday 10 October and Friday 5 December if there is sufficient demand. The briefing session will take place on Tuesday 30 September.
Contact us directly info@publicservicetransformation.org to have an informal one-to-one chat about content applicability etc, or email enquiries@cherithsimmons.co.uk to ask about levy funding or begin the registration process.
[With apologies for cross-posting]
I’d be grateful if you could spread the word on this – and of course if you might be interested, do sign up 😊
Link to my LinkedIn post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/antlerboy_2025-08-20-commissioning-and-leading-for-activity-7369118675318034433-qH87
About Cybernetics – Prelude (and series) – Hilder (2025)
What Cybernetics Is & Why It Matters
Aug 11, 2025
https://thethirdsystem.substack.com/p/about-cybernetics-prelude
Cyb3rSyn Labs Podcast – Systems Don’t Exist: Geoff Elliott
Species of ant gives birth to another different (ancient ancestor) species of ant
Patrick Heizer on Twitter @PatrickHeizer
If you thought biology couldn’t get any weirder, life finds a way: “We term females exhibiting this reproductive mode as xenoparous, meaning they give birth to other species as part of their life cycle.”
Special Issue of Information Technology & People (Emerald) on Coding society. Programmatic encounters between information systems and social theory (Luhmann linked – Dr Steffen Roth)
Sep 2, 2025 by Dr. Steffen Roth
CFP | IT&P | Coding society. Programmatic encounters between information systems and social theory | Prof Steffen Roth
Understanding Core Beliefs: A Deep Dive into Systems Approaches – Khan (2025)
Job: (Systems Thinking) Teaching Fellow – Birmingham Business School (£36-45k), deadline 30 September 2025
United Kingdom
Job Description
Position Details
Birmingham Business School
Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
Full time starting salary is normally in the range £36,130 to £45,413 with potential progression once in post to £48,149
Grade: 7
Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to August 2026
Closing date: 30th September 2025
Systems Thinking Ontario: What Can Systems Thinkers Learn from Quantifying History – September 10, 6:30pm EDT, in person Toronto
Daniel Hoyer and Neal Halverson in discussion about the connections and relationship between quantitative history and systems thinking.
Date and time
Wednesday, September 10 · 6:30 – 8:15pm EDT
Location
OCADU Graduate Programs205 Richmond Street West Room 511 (5th floor elevator) Toronto, ON M5V 0H4 Canada
Harish’s Notebook – Wittgenstein’s Ladder in Complexity: Why We Need Tools We Must Abandon – Jose (2025)
HBR – Why You Need Systems Thinking Now – Bansal and Birkinshaw (2025)
[Another hoary old article in the mainstream press – I think one recently started ‘Do you remember Systems Thinking? The Fifth Discipline?’ – this time a good reason to have a quick look at ‘systems thinking starts from defining an idealised future state’, used by some ‘complexity’ folk as part of their dig at ‘why systems thinking isn’t complexity-aware’. And indeed the article does suggest starting from that (and, aptly, confuses the North Star – a navigational aid – with a destination). I think this stems from Ackoff’s Idealised Design and from Senge’s popularisation of simplified stuff. It’s partly valid of course – Ackoff and Senge foreground ‘vision’ in different ways – but Ackoff was using it (a) as a way to remove mental constraints, (b) ultimately subject to feasibility and (c) with full recognition of ‘messes of messes’. And soft systems methodology, critical systems thinking, the viable systems model, critical systems heuristics, even system dynamics all emphasise complexity.]
It’s the best way to anticipate the many secondary effects of change in an interconnected world. by Tima Bansal and Julian Birkinshaw
Strategy as a way of being, not an output – Jones (2025)
The pursuit of viability, not the production of documents
Aug 30, 2025
https://strategymeetsreality.substack.com/p/strategy-as-a-way-of-being-not-an
SCiO monthly events newsletter – September & October 2025
Hello and welcome to the end August 2025 monthly mailing from SCiO.
CONFERENCE
We are eagerly anticipating the SysPrac25 conference next week at the Open University in Milton Keynes.
We’ve confirmed 47 international speakers including the 4 keynote speakers –
Dr Mike Jackson, Alison Guthrie-Wrenn, Dr Ray Ison, and Patrick Hoverstadt.
– 10 hands-on workshops and 2 interactive jam/panel sessions.
Highlights include sessions on Patterns of Strategy, the Viable System Model, System Dynamics, and more.
Expect 32 practitioner talks, informal fireside chats with leading systems thinkers, and a cash prize for the best student/apprentice case study.
The schedule is now finalised.
See the full schedule here. Book now to secure your spot!
Pagesare fully updated and include hotels, parking and directions.
Click the image for the latest details
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ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2025
We are holding the AGM live this year as part of the SysPrac25 conference
at the OU in Milton Keynes
on Sept 3rd 2025
17:30 – 18:30 GMT+1
Hub Theatre, Walton Hall, The Open University, Walton Drive, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
We urge all members who cannot attend to advise Steve Hales to act as a proxy to ensure that the meeting is quorate. A notice went out to members on 14th August with more details.
COURSES
All courses on the SCiO Ezycourse LMS are now discounted 10% to members, forever!
– use the discount code MEMBER10 when booking.
We are now offering 23 in-depth courses through the Ezycourse LMS plus 2 others.
These are also available to organisations at special rates. Please contact us.
Click here for more details – more are being added regularly.
EVENTS – by country (click on the name)
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SCiO UK Virtual Development Event – October 2025
Tue, Oct 21st, 2025 13:00 – 15:00 GMT+1
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.
Members only; FREE; Online event; English BOOK NOW
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SCIO-NL monthly meeting September 2025 (live in Woerden and in Dutch)
Fri, Sep 5th, 2025 12:30 – 16:30 CET+1
SCIO-NL komt elke 1e of 2e vrijdag van de maand live bijeen, afwisselend in Vianen (Hagenweg 3c) of 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.
NL Members + guests; FREE; Pelmolenlaan 2, Woerden (At the Office) 5, Woerden, Netherlands; Dutch BOOK NOW
SCIO-NL monthly meeting October 2025 (live in Vianen and in Dutch)
Fri, Oct 3rd, 2025 12:30 – 16:30 CET+1
SCIO-NL komt elke 1e of 2e vrijdag van de maand live bijeen, afwisselend in Vianen (Hagenweg 3c) of 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.
NL Members + guests; FREE; Hagenweg 3c, Vianen, Netherlands; Dutch BOOK NOW
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Tue, Sep 9th, 2025 19:00 – 21:00 CET+1
De Nederlandse tuinbouwsector bevindt zich op een kantelpunt. Klimaatverandering, stikstofproblematiek, druk op watergebruik, energieverduurzaming en veranderende marktdynamieken dwingen de sector tot fundamentele transities. Oplossingen vragen om meer dan technologische innovaties of beleidsaanpassingen — ze vragen om een nieuw denkkader en vernieuwende samenwerkingsvormen.
Tijdens deze avond neemt Peter Maes ons mee in een verkenning van de ecosystemische aanpak die aan het ontstaan is binnen en buiten de sector. Hij schetst hoe “coalities van de willing” — tijdelijke samenwerkingen tussen telers, financiële instellingen (zoals Rabobank), onderzoekscentra (o.a. Wageningen UR) en andere betrokkenen — projectmatig en over sectorgrenzen heen werken aan systeemverandering.
Een inspirerende sessie voor iedereen die betrokken is bij of geïnteresseerd is in een ecosystemische aanpak van transformaties — van beleidsmakers en ondernemers tot onderzoekers en financiers.
All welcome; Free; Online event; Dutch; BOOK NOW
Intervisiesessie 1: Systemisch denken voor taaie vraagstukken
Tue, Oct 14th, 2025 (- Sun, Dec 14th, 2025) 19:00 – 21:00 CET+1
In een tijd waarin maatschappelijke, ecologische en organisatorische uitdagingen steeds complexer en meer verweven raken, volstaat lineair probleemdenken niet langer. Wat vandaag als oplossing geldt, kan morgen deel worden van het probleem. Het vraagt van ons een meta-systemische blik — een denkwijze waarin we niet alleen naar het systeem kijken, maar ook naar onze manier van kijken zélf.
In deze eerste van een reeks van drie intervisiesessie gaan we samen aan de slag met het gedachtegoed uit het essay “Opening the Box. Systems Thinking for Transformative Conversations.” We gebruiken dit meta-denkkader om per sessie taaie vraagstukken met elkaar te verkennen. Je reikt deze vraagstukken als deelnemer aan uit je eigen praktijk….
Members only + guests; 30 euro; Kon. Astridlaan 144, 2800 Mechelen, Belgium; Dutch BOOK NOW
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SCiO DACH (Deutschland, Österreich, Schweiz)
Thu, Sep 25th, 2025 19:00 – 20:30 CET+1
Zahlreiche Lean-Transformationsprojekte scheitern oder erreichen nicht die gewünschte Performance und/oder Tragfähigkeit, die für eine nachhaltige Umsetzung des Lean Managements erforderlich ist. Es gibt jedoch einige Faktoren, die die erfolgreiche Umsetzung des Lean Managements im Tagesgeschäft unterstützen. Dazu zählen nach Ansicht der Autoren die Managementkybernetik und insbesondere das Viable System Model (VSM) von Stafford Beer als strukturierendes Element. Aufgrund seiner Eigenschaften als evolutionsbasiertes Organisationssystem scheint das VSM gut geeignet, eine nachhaltige Grundlage für eine effizienzorientierte Methode wie Lean Management zu bilden. Insbesondere die evolutionäre Fähigkeit des Modells, sich ständig an die Anforderungen seiner Umgebung anzupassen, bietet eine geeignete Grundstruktur für eine nachhaltige Verbindung mit den Methoden des Lean Managements….
All welcome; Free; Online event; German BOOK NOW
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No events are planned by SCiO Finland in September and October.
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No events are planned by SCiO Ireland in September and October.
Systems Community of Inquiry 
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