Systems Thinking – Creating the conditions for change: a participatory cybernetic framework – free, in person Hull UK or online, 26 September 2025 12:30pm UK time

Joint FREE event from the Centre for Systems Studies, Hull in partnership with the Systems Thinking Special Intererst Group at the The OR Society

LinkedIn post from Matt Lloyd:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-7326582273066024960-izPs?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAACuq-oBecVFDW6PCf3lkoG-peMeuLBeoho

Join us for a Special Interest Group: Change in organisations is inevitable, especially in challenging economic and technological times. Enabling the entire workforce to engage in change initiatives not only facilitates buy in, but also ensures that their specific knowledge and insights create and embed organisational transformation which will enhance long term viability.

Dr Ann Mulhaney – Associate Professor for Change Management at the Centre for Sustainable Innovation, University of Salford will be presenting/speaking on this informative subject.

Change in organisations is inevitable, especially in challenging economic and technological times. Enabling the entire workforce to engage in change initiatives not only facilitates buy in, but also ensures that their specific knowledge and insights create and embed organisational transformation which will enhance long term viability.

There is a plethora of change management literature, with numerous models and theories of change, but few explain how to create and embed the conditions for change that enable stakeholder engagement, coordination of initiatives and sustainability of both the change and the management of change within organisations. Managerial cybernetics is the science of effective organisation, but little work had been undertaken to utilise managerial cybernetics in the design of change intervention which both engages those affected and embraces creativity techniques as part of the change framework.

Using action research, this presentation describes a framework for cybernetic participatory intervention that engages stakeholders both in the evolving design and the implementation of change. The framework was developed, refined and applied in a series of situations with increasing levels of complexity involving multiple change initiatives, multi companies and cross industry programmes. The framework embeds creativity tools to both engage stakeholders and enhance understanding of the situational context, allowing for new and enhanced opportunities for change to emerge.

When

26/09/2025 12:30 – 14:00
GMT Daylight Time

Where

Centre for Systems Studies University of Hull Cottingham Road Hybrid HU6 7RX

Systems Thinking – Creating the conditions for change: a participatory cybernetic framework

Systems Thinking – Creating the conditions for change: a participatory cybernetic framework | ORS
https://www.theorsociety.com/ORS/Event_Display.aspx?EventKey=SIGAPRIL25&WebsiteKey=c1745213-aec0-45e5-a960-0ec98ebabd4e

Launch of the new SOAS-ACE How To guide: Navigating the political economy of corruption, Thursday 15 May 1pm UK time (online)

Shared by Alan Hudson on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/alanhudson_corruption-anticorruption-systemsthinking-activity-7326574414089658368-wUIr?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAACuq-oBecVFDW6PCf3lkoG-peMeuLBeoho

The guide:

Navigating the Political Economy of Corruption: Observing and understanding actors’ behaviours, to inform effective policy

Direct link to event:

The Transformative Innovation Policy Consortium

Share by Marc Harris on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/marcharrisphd_transformative-outcomes-activity-7326131309829922816-bSGl?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAACuq-oBecVFDW6PCf3lkoG-peMeuLBeoho

WELCOME TO THE TRANSFORMATIVE INNOVATION POLICY CONSORTIUM (TIPC) — WHERE SYSTEMS THINKING UNLOCKS INNOVATION FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE.

Transformative Innovation Policy Consortium – TIPC is a global consortium of science, tech and innovation policymakers, funders and researchers working to mobilise the power of innovation to address societal and environmental challenges of our time

Illuminate Systems Change Learning and Evaluation Project

Report

Learning & Evaluation Project

Projects — Illuminate Systems
https://www.illuminatesystems.org/projects

Fluidity Forum Newsletter The Governor and the Maximizer (2025) – SubStack

Reflections On Attending LessOnline And Fluidity Forum

May 07, 2025

The Governor and the Maximizer
Reflections On Attending LessOnline And Fluidity Forum
MAY 07, 2025

The Governor and the Maximizer – Fluidity Forum Newsletter
https://fluidity.substack.com/p/the-governor-and-the-maximizer

Complex Anarchism Symposium, 19-23 May 2025 in Brussels

COMPLEX ANARCHISM SYMPOSIUM, 19-23 MAY 2025 IN BRUSSELS

Complex Anarchism Symposium, 19-23 May 2025 in Brussels
https://clea.research.vub.be/complex-anarchism-symposium-19-23-may-2025-in-brussels

DIMENSIONS SURFACING HEURISTICS“Revealing the Dimensions of Complex Problems in Organizations” – Tegally, 2024 (ISSS presentation)

Context, Basis, Structure, Applications

A Presentation to ISSS – 3rd August 2024

Dare to Rethink..®
Mehaad A. Tegally RPᴱᴹ
Systems Thinking, Re-engineering & Optimization Professional
Founder: Sustainable Operating System Initiative ®
“Dimensions Surfacing Heuristics”

ISSS Mini-Symposium 2024-08-03 06:05:52

ISSS Mini-Symposium 2024-08-03 06:05:52 on Vimeo

Centre for Systems Studies Annual Mike Jackson Lecture with guest speaker Professor John Seddon 2025

[I don’t usually share John’s work here – I don’t think it’s systems thinking and despite his brio and chutzpah – and undoubted inspiration – I think on balance he’s caused more problems than he’s made things better (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254221096_The_John_Seddon_method_for_public_sector_transformation_-_self-enlightenment_coercion_or_both), and he certainly doesn’t like me. But like a favourite band or play, it’s worth seeing his speech every few years – and this is the Mike Jackson lecture]

Centre for Systems Studies Annual Mike Jackson Lecture with guest speaker Professor John Seddon 2025 – YouTube

Pask’s conversation & interaction of actors theories: Approaches to learning tech, Shantanu Tilak – Cybernetics Society (2025), YouTube

Cybernetics Society

1 May 2025

Tilak Shantanu presents the topics addressed in a three-part paper published in our Journal. It looks at Gordon Pask’s conversation theory (CT) and interaction of actors theory (IA) and outlines ways to apply these cybernetic approaches to designing technologies and scenarios for both formal and informal learning. The paper was published in our journal and the link is here: https://doi.org/10.58695/ec.11

Pask’s conversation & interaction of actors theories: Approaches to learning tech, Shantanu Tilak

Cybernetics Society

Pask’s conversation & interaction of actors theories: Approaches to learning tech, Shantanu Tilak – YouTube

SCiO events May and June 2025 – the Systems Thinking Practitioner professional body

CONFERENCE – SAVE THE DATE      

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COURSES

We are now offering 14 in-depth courses (two more will be added in the next couple of weeks!).
Click in the image for more details

RESOURCES

Five new recordings of speakers as the recent SCiO UK Manchester Event are now available on the website. 

Click the image for more details

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  SCiO UK

SCiO UK Virtual Open Meeting – May 2025

Mon, May 19th, 2025  18:30 – 21:00  GMT+1

Virtual Open Meeting: A series of presentations of general interest to Systems and Complexity in Organisation’s members and others. SCiO UK organises Open Meetings to provide opportunities for practitioners to learn and develop new practice, to build relationships, networks hear about skills, tools, practice and experiences. This virtual meeting will be held on Zoom, and there will be two speaker sessions.

Viable Service Management – Operations – Steve Hales

Practical Application of Systems Thinking to Enterprise Design – Tim Manning

All welcome; FREEOnline event; English; BOOK NOW

SCiO UK Virtual Development Event – June 2025

Tue, Jun 10th, 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 Nederland

SCIO-NL monthly meeting May 2025 (live in Vianen and in Dutch)

Fri, May 2nd, 2025  12:30 – 16:00  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 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 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

SCIO-NL i.s.m. KNVI: Opening the Box – door Jan de Visch

Tue, May 20th, 2025  19:00 – 20:30  CET

Beste leden, Dinsdagavond 20 mei (19:00-20:30) is het weer tijd voor een online presentatie van onze vereniging SCIO-NL; wederom in samenwerking met KNVI. Deze keer presenteert Jan de Visch het boek “ Opening the Box: Systems Thinking for Transformative Conversations” dat Jan samen met drie andere SCIO-leden (Miguel Pantaleon, Namrata Arora en Tony Korycki) heeft geschreven. Hoewel het boek Engelstalig is, is de presentatie in het Nederlands.  Hieronder vind je nog een uitgebreidere omschrijving van het boek en de presentatie.
Als je geinteresseerd bent, stuur mij dan een email (ed@doitogether.nl) en je ontvangt een Teams-uitnodiging. Graag tot ziens.

All welcome; FREEOnline event; Dutch & English; BOOK NOW

SCIO-NL monthly meeting April 2025 (live in Woerden and in Dutch)

FriJune 13th, 2025   12:30 – 16:00  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 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 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

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  SCiO Belgium

Werkingsjaarafsluiting: Verken de grenzen van je systemisch denken aan de hand van provocatieve vragen

Tue, May 13th, 2025  19:00 – 22:00  CET+1

In deze laatste activiteit verkennen we hoe we vastgeroeste denkpatronen kunnen doorbreken en nieuwe perspectieven kunnen creëren. Door middel van provocatieve vragen onderzoeken deelnemers de grenzen van hun eigen systemische benadering verkennen en innovatieve oplossingen vinden voor complexe problemen.

We focussen op cases (uitdagingen of problemen) die deelnemers zelf kunnen inbrengen. Dit kan bijv. een uitdaging rond strategie-uitvoering, change management, leiderschap, of andere zijn…..

Members only + Guests; 30 euro; Kon. Astridlaan 144, 2800 Mechelen, Belgium; Dutch; BOOK NOW

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   SCiO DACH (Deutschland, Österreich, Schweiz)

Von Grundbegriffen und sozioökologischen Systemen

Thu, Jun 26th, 2025  19:00 – 20:30  CET+1

Transformationen wirksam begleiten zu können, erfordert inhärente Komplexität anzuerkennen und einen konstruktiven Umgang damit zu finden. In diesem Vortrag beleuchten wir die Prinzipien unserer Wahrnehmung und entdecken gemeinsam ein von C. S. Holling inspiriertes Modell organisatorischer Weiterentwicklung.  Wir betrachten wie präzise Sprache und bewusste Perspektivwechsel entscheidend dazu beitragen, kontextuelle Klarheit zu erlangen, um nachhaltige Veränderung zu initiieren – und was wir aus der Entwicklung von Ökosystemen über die Gestaltung dieser Veränderungsprozesse lernen können. Begleiten Sie uns auf dieser Reise durch innovative Denkansätze, um Transformation nicht nur zu verstehen, sondern auch effektiv zu gestalten.More….

Members only + Guests; Kostenlos; Online event; German;  BOOK NOW

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  SCiO Finland

Learning Finland? – Systemic Challenges and Opportunities

Tue, May 6th, 2025  13:00 – 16:00  EEST

Finland has an international reputation as a leader in learning and development, but does this brand truly reflect today’s reality? Can our learning systems, organizations and governance structures keep pace with the challenges of a rapidly changing world? The workshop “Learning Finland? – Systemic Challenges and Opportunities” brings together policy makers, leaders, practitioners, and scholars to discuss how systems thinking can help us understand and improve learning at the individual, organizational, and societal levels….

Opening Address: Public sector innovation capacity: what influences public officials’ ability to learn, innovate and adapt to change? – Dr. Piret Tõnurist

Systemic Governance – Professor Emeritus Ray Ison

How to Co-create Learning Spaces? – Tim Logan

All welcome; FREE; 8 Maarintie,  02150 Espoo, Finland; Finnish;  BOOK NOW

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   SCiO Ireland 

Green Just Transition

Thu, May 8th, 2025  10:30 – 16:00  GMT+1

SCiO Ireland is organising an experiential “Green Just Transition” Workshop on 8 May 2025: The Green Just Transition: What will a Just Transition look like? How will we know when we get there? Systems and Complexity in Organisation (SCiO) Ireland, the national  chapter of the international systems thinking professional membership organisation, and Eurofound, the EU Agency for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, are conducting an in-person experiential research workshop on 8 May 2025.

This is an experiential process workshop with invited participants from Ireland. We will engage in a hands-on interactive process of inquiry to access collective group wisdom to access fresh insights for policymakers in Ireland and across the EU.  

The methodology draws on systems thinking and Social Presencing Theatre, a methodology developed at MIT for embodied learning.

more…..

All Welcome (booking necessary); FREE; Eurofound, Wyattville Road, Loughlinstown, Co. Dublin D18 KP65, Ireland; EnglishBOOK NOW

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  SCiO Espana

Meeting being planned – check the website and watch this space! 

SCiO UK Virtual Open Meeting – Monday 19 May 2025, 18:30–21:00 (GMT+1) Steve Hales – Viable Service Management: Operations, Tim Manning – Practical Application of Systems Thinking to Enterprise Design

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SCiO UK Virtual Open Meeting – Monday 19 May, 18:30–21:00 (GMT+1)

Join us online for an evening of applied systems thinking, open to all and free to attend.

This session features two talks from experienced practitioners exploring how systems thinking shapes real-world organisational design and operations:

➡️ Steve Hales – Viable Service Management: Operations

A practical look at how organisations interface with users through different types of ‘repair’ (cybernetic) loops – from IT services and the NHS to car servicing. Steve explores how users are drawn into organisational processes and what that means for managing operational viability.

➡️ Tim Manning – Practical Application of Systems Thinking to Enterprise Design

Drawing on nearly 30 years of practice, Tim explores how systems thinking underpins effective enterprise design. He’ll share lessons from business architecture and Target Operating Model design – and how we can apply systems thinking more rigorously to build organisations fit for the future.

📅 Date: Monday, 19 May 2025

🕡 Time: 18:30–21:00 (UK time, GMT+1)

🔗 Register here: https://lnkd.in/g2xR_VtY

Hosted by SCiO – the professional body for systems practitioners.

(1) Post | LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/scio—systems-and-cybernetics-in-organisation_scio-uk-virtual-open-meeting-monday-19-activity-7325791516159815683-miR9/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAACuq-oBecVFDW6PCf3lkoG-peMeuLBeoho

Joanna Boehnert – “Gregory Bateson’s Cosmos” an interactive graphic mapping Bateson’s encounters with various environmental practitioners in the post 1968 period and “Steps towards a theory of action: Notes on Seven Bateson conferences“ a series of essays developed by colleagues Dulmini Perera, Jon Goodbun, Simon Sadler, and Ben Sweeting that present arcs of these stories. Drawn and art directed by Dulmini Perera.

Links:
Dulmini Perera, Leonie Link, Stefanie Huthoefer, Paola Ferrari, Florian Tudzierez. “Gregory Bateson’s Cosmos”, March 2025, Bauhaus University Weimar, https://lnkd.in/ebvqTGkG [visit this one first!]

Dulmini Perera, Jon Goodbun, Simon SADLER, ben sweeting, Leonie Link, Stefanie Huthöfer, Paola Ferrari, Florian Tudzierez. “Steps Around a Theory of Action: Notes on Seven Bateson conferences,” March 2025, Bauhaus University Weimar, https://lnkd.in/eve6TXR2

Gregory Bateson Cosmos contains a bonus link to Gregory Bateson’s “living systems test”shared online for the first time. See link: https://lnkd.in/eD3Hp7dE

Includes short texts on
1. The Dialectics of Liberation Congress: London 1967
2. Wenner-Gren Conference on the Effects of Conscious Purpose on Human Adaptation: Burg Wartenstein 1968
3. Wenner-Gren Conference on the Moral and Aesthetic Structure of Human Adaptation: Burg Wartenstein 1969
4. Conference on Human Distress and Rapid Social Change: Princeton 1969
5. Wenner-Gren Conference on Reconstructing the Ecology of a Great City: New York 1970
6. After Robert Moses, What? An Exploration of New Ways of Governing Cities and Institutions: Tarrytown Conference Center 1974
7. Lindisfarne Summer Conference on Conscious Evolution and the Evolution of Consciousness: Southampton, New York 1975

Many thanks to everyone who supported our project, the funding bodies DFG and AHRC and The Bateson Idea Group for allowing us to share Bateson’s living systems test in digital form.

Post | LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jodyboehnert_gregory-batesons-cosmos-an-interactive-activity-7311388583829884930-L7Hz/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios&rcm=ACoAAACuq-oBecVFDW6PCf3lkoG-peMeuLBeoho

Patterns vol 2, December 2024

patterns vol. 2
Dec 2024

“It is precisely by falling off the bike many times that you eventually learn what the balance feels like. The skater pushing both right and left eventually goes where he or she wants to go. People who have never allowed themselves to fall are actually off balance, while not realizing it at all. That is why they are so hard to live with. Please think about that for a while.” (Rohr, Richard, Falling Upward p.28)

pattern making
https://www.patternmaking.org/patternsvol2?ss_source=sscampaigns&ss_campaign_id=6761acca99604b5f45cd78f5&ss_email_id=67657881683bb40515d37a7e&ss_campaign_name=It%E2%80%99s+here%3A+%F0%9F%92%8C+patterns+vol.2&ss_campaign_sent_date=2024-12-20T14%3A01%3A02Z

The Development and Initial Validation of the Paradigm of Systems Thinking – Randle and Stroink (2018)

via John Evans’ LinkedIn post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/john-evans-56815391_individual-difference-dimension-ugcPost-7279081224441139200-Nhvz/

pdf link:

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jason-Randle-2/publication/324005093_The_Development_and_Initial_Validation_of_the_Paradigm_of_Systems_Thinking_Development_and_Validation_of_Systems_Thinking/links/5ad3a10a458515c60f53b5ea/The-Development-and-Initial-Validation-of-the-Paradigm-of-Systems-Thinking-Development-and-Validation-of-Systems-Thinking.pdf?__cf_chl_tk=DZ4cm3QsWSMdVQmj43DeVQZfMnB9Itupw_EkHNLxchk-1746595743-1.0.1.1-5nRql7d15dbT5pOfhQjoSLHPsDyZ27zWHLEMHPQa1dA

Jason M. RandleMirella L. Stroink

First published: 25 March 2018

https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.2508

Citations: 32

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Abstract

‘Systems thinking is a discipline for seeing wholes. It is a framework for seeing interrelationships rather than things, for seeing patterns of change rather than static “snapshots.” ’

Peter Senge.

The current research examined the psychological construct of systems thinking alongside other established psychological constructs of intelligence, personality, cognitive complexity and creativity to distinguish systems thinking as an independent psychological construct. Across two studies, results suggest that, while systems thinking may overlap with some of these constructs, notably intelligence and cognitive complexity, these constructs did not fully explain obtained variance in systems thinking scores and suggest that systems thinking may indeed be a distinct, perhaps foundational, psychological construct that may exist as an individual difference dimension. This exploratory study discusses the theoretical implications of systems thinking as well as further psychometric validation of the Systems Thinking Scale. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Development and Initial Validation of the Paradigm of Systems Thinking
Jason M. Randle, Mirella L. Stroink
First published: 25 March 2018 https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.2508Citations: 32
Read the full text
PDFTOOLS SHARE
Abstract
‘Systems thinking is a discipline for seeing wholes. It is a framework for seeing interrelationships rather than things, for seeing patterns of change rather than static “snapshots.” ’

-Peter Senge.

The current research examined the psychological construct of systems thinking alongside other established psychological constructs of intelligence, personality, cognitive complexity and creativity to distinguish systems thinking as an independent psychological construct. Across two studies, results suggest that, while systems thinking may overlap with some of these constructs, notably intelligence and cognitive complexity, these constructs did not fully explain obtained variance in systems thinking scores and suggest that systems thinking may indeed be a distinct, perhaps foundational, psychological construct that may exist as an individual difference dimension. This exploratory study discusses the theoretical implications of systems thinking as well as further psychometric validation of the Systems Thinking Scale. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Development and Initial Validation of the Paradigm of Systems Thinking – Randle – 2018 – Systems Research and Behavioral Science – Wiley Online Library
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/sres.2508

Superabundance is Coming – but Only if Humanity Commits to Protecting the Planet – Ahmend (2024)

Nafeez M Ahmed

Creator of the Age of Transformation, a newsletter offering systems-thinking for the global phase-shift. Director, Unitas Futures Lab. Founder, System Shift Lab.

Table of Contents

  1. Humans are not outside the earth system
  2. Wake up: the system is changing
  3. Giant leap?
  4. Or widening gap?
  5. Uncertain futures
  6. System change
  7. Member discussion

Superabundance is within reach. But ironically, the precondition to getting it is by giving it up. It sounds paradoxical, but this is actually the key to the next great leap in human evolution. I set this out with a rigorous scientific framework in my new paper on the Planetary Phase Shift.

20 Dec 2024 11 min read

Superabundance is Coming – but Only if Humanity Commits to Protecting the Planet
Superabundance is within reach. But ironically, the precondition to getting it is by giving it up. It sounds paradoxical, but this is actually the key to the next great leap in human evolution. I set this out with a rigorous scientific framework in my new paper on the Planetary Phase Shift.
20 DEC 2024 11 MIN READ

Superabundance is Coming – but Only if Humanity Commits to Protecting the Planet
https://ageoftransformation.org/superabundance-is-coming-but-only-if-humanity-commits-to-protecting-the-planet-2/