Open Sociotechnical Systems Thinking with Trond Hjorteland – YouTube

Open Sociotechnical Systems Thinking with Trond Hjorteland Unlisted 92 viewsStreamed live 5 hours ago 8 DISLIKE SHARE SAVE Virtual Domain-Driven Design 1.96K subscribers SUBSCRIBED The term “sociotechnical” seems to have gotten a bit or renaissance lately, which is a great thing given all the positive impact it has had on many organisations and their workers around the world over the years. It also seems to have gotten some traction outside the academic circles this time after being developed and pushed from there mostly using action research since its humble beginning in the post-war British coal mines. It is an entry into systems thinking for many, with its idea about joint optimisation of both the technical and social aspects of an organisation. A common example is setting up the team topology to match the service architecture in an attempt to cater for negative effects of Conway’s law. This is all well and good, but if we think about it, viewing the modern organisation as a sociotechnical system is a bit of a tautology; all organisations have social and technical elements that people deal with on a daily basis. As with systems thinking, the value of sociotechnical system design is more about perspective and understanding rather than any specific outcome. There is so much more to sociotechnical design than DevOps and team setup that we need in order to cope in our increasingly complex and hazardous “digital coal mines.” Disclaimer: This talk is a prototype and is loosely based on my lightning talks at DDD Europe and the recent talk at Lean Agile Exchange. Hope this will be more of a joint exploration system thinking in general and open sociotechnical systems thinking in particular than a pure lecture.

Open Sociotechnical Systems Thinking with Trond Hjorteland – YouTube

Nice. Actual research from great sources, and he points out it’s a ‘beta’ presentation 🙂

Storytelling for Systems Change | Centre For Public Impact (CPI)

Storytelling for Systems Change Insights from the field How can stories help us change systems?

Storytelling for Systems Change | Centre For Public Impact (CPI)

Systems Research and Behavioural Science – ISSS Yearbook: Systemic Change towards Sustainable Development: Innovative and Integrative Approaches: Systems Research and Behavioral Science: Vol 38, No 5

I am not at all sure what is happening with the proliferation of subtitles here.

But some very interesting articles (from what I can see from the open access or otherwise available ones)

Volume 38, Issue 5 Special Issue:ISSS Yearbook: Systemic Change towards Sustainable Development: Innovative and Integrative Approaches Pages: 577-714 September/October 2021

ISSS Yearbook: Systemic Change towards Sustainable Development: Innovative and Integrative Approaches: Systems Research and Behavioral Science: Vol 38, No 5

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ISSUE INFORMATION

Free AccessIssue Information

  • Pages: 577-578
  • First Published: 21 November 2021

GUEST EDITORIAL

Systemic change towards sustainable development: Innovative and integrative approachesShankar SankaranRika Presier

  • Pages: 579-582
  • First Published: 21 November 2021

RESEARCH PAPERS

Clarifying human agency in social systems, implications for large schools and workplaces and the Systems Thinking RoundTableSusan Farr Gabriele

  • Pages: 583-593
  • First Published: 20 September 2021

Critical systems practice 2: Produce—Constructing a multimethodological intervention strategyMichael C. Jackson

  • Pages: 594-609
  • First Published: 24 August 2021

Designing an inquiry-based learning system: Innovating in research praxis to transform science–policy–practice relations for sustainable developmentRay L. IsonKevin B. CollinsBen L. Iaquinto

  • Pages: 610-624
  • First Published: 27 August 2021

Co-exploring relational heuristics for sustainability transitions towards more resilient and just Anthropocene futuresRika PreiserReinette BiggsMaike HamannNadia SitasOdirilwe SelomaneJoy WaddellHayley ClementsTanja Hichert

  • Pages: 625-634
  • First Published: 29 October 2021

Open AccessA systems perspective on systemic innovationGerald MidgleyErik Lindhult

  • Pages: 635-670
  • First Published: 07 November 2021

Communication and culture: A multispecies endeavour within a shared habitatJanet J. McIntyre-Mills

  • Pages: 671-684
  • First Published: 20 October 2021

Sustainable business intelligence systems: Modelling for the futureRoelien Goede

  • Pages: 685-695
  • First Published: 20 October 2021

The history and future of projects as a transition innovation: Towards a sustainable project management frameworkShankar SankaranMattias JacobssonTomas Blomquist

  • Pages: 696-714
  • First Published: 05 September 2021

Error Correction of Error Correction:

Harish's avatarHarish's Notebook - My notes... Lean, Cybernetics, Quality & Data Science.

If I were asked to explain cybernetics, the first thing that would come to my mind would be – error correction. The example that is often used to explain cybernetics is that of the steersman. You have a steersman on a boat moving from point A to point B. Ideally, the boat should move from point A to B in a straight line. However, the wind can change the direction of the boat, and the steersman has to adjust accordingly to stay on course. This negative feedback loop requires a target such that the difference from the target is compensated. In technical terms, there is a comparator (something that can measure) that checks on a periodic or continuous basis what the difference is, and provides this information to make adjustments accordingly. Let’s call this framework as first order cybernetics. In this framework, we need a closed loop so that we…

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Is there an actual source for the Kurt Lewin quote “You cannot understand a system until you try to change it”?

Sometimes this is given as
“If you want truly to understand something, try to change it.”
and I learned it as
“You never understand a system until you start to try to change it.”

I also see Urie Bronfenbrenner quoted as saying: “you never understand a phenomenon until you try to change it”.

I would love to find the original source! I have had a bit of a dig, but got nothing but a strong collective history 🙂

Design and Control of Self-organizing Systems

Author: Carlos Gershenson Published: 2007 Physiscs, Self-organization, Complexity Theory English Cat: TS0002EN ISBN:  978-0-9831172-3-0 By clicking below you adhere to the licence governing this site Contents Download Free |  2.5Mb |  Complex systems are usually difficult to design and control. There are several particular methods for coping with complexity, but there is no general approach to build complex systems. In this book I propose a methodology to aid engineers in the design and control of complex systems. This is based on the description of systems as self-organizing. Starting from the agent metaphor, the methodology proposes a conceptual framework and a series of steps to follow to find proper mechanisms that will promote elements to find solutions by actively interacting among themselves.

Design and Control of Self-organizing Systems

Towards Self-Organizing Bureaucracies | Gershenson (2008) | International Journal of Public Information Systems

Towards Self-Organizing Bureaucracies

Carlos Gershenson

http://www.ijpis.net/ojs/index.php/IJPIS/article/view/51

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to contribute to eGovernment efforts, encouraging the use of self-organization as a method to improve the efficiency and adaptability of bureaucracies and similar social systems. Bureaucracies are described as networks of agents, where the main design principle is to reduce local “friction” to increase local and global “satisfaction”. Following this principle, solutions are proposed for improving communication within bureaucracies, sensing public satisfaction, dynamic modification of hierarchies, and contextualization of procedures. Each of these reduces friction between agents (internal or external), increasing the efficiency of bureaucracies. Current technologies can be applied for this end. “Random agent networks” (RANs), novel computational models, are introduced to illustrate the benefits of self-organizing bureaucracies. Simulations show that only few changes are required to reach near-optimal performance, potentially adapting quickly and effectively to shifts in demand.

Cybersalon Xmas Lecture – 8th Dec 2021 – Raul Espejo, What can we learn from Cybernetics to help us in post-Covid recovery (face-to-face) | Cybersalon

Cybersalon Xmas Lecture – 8th Dec 2021  Posted by: Karolina Janicka in 2021 events, Next Event, Writing 11 days ago 0 702 Views What can we learn from Cybernetics to help us in post-Covid recover?

Cybersalon Xmas Lecture – 8th Dec 2021  | Cybersalon

Cybersalon Xmas Lecture – 8th Dec 2021 

Posted by: Karolina Janicka in 2021 eventsNext EventWriting 11 days ago 0 702 Views

What can we learn from Cybernetics to help us in post-Covid recover?

We are delighted to announce that Raul Espejo, the pioneer of Cybernetics and Cybersyn system will give our annual Cybersalon Xmas Lecture in person.  We will gather in Newspeak House, in Shoreditch, to discuss what Cybersyn pioneers would say about our chances of ‘bouncing back better’. To optimise or to re-boot, this is the question (or one of many).

From Stafford Beer,  Janos Kornai to more modern Viable Systems Model, cybernetics can all point at solutions for our current predicament.  How do you balance  rapid adaptation to new circumstances with making sure you don’t fall over is the question for 2022.

Raul Espejo worked on the original Cybersyn in Chile in 1971-1973 during presidency of Salvador Allende. He has escaped safely and then has bee lecturing world-wide on the future of systems. Raul is currently based in Lincoln University.

After the talk we will host a discussion on future of systemic adaptation to Climate Change with Raul Espejo, Dr Richard Barbrook, (Westminster University) Eva Pascoe (Cybersalon.org)  and Edward Saperia (Dean of Newspeak House)

CyberSanta with mince pies to followRegister Here

Ticket: 12 GBP – very limited availability, get in touch for students tickets

Venue: Newspeak House 133 Bethnal Green Road E2 7 DG

Nearest Station: Shoreditch High Street Overground/Old Street Tube Station

Sponsors:

Cybersalon.org – Think Tank on Digital Futures

Patchworks.com No 1 UK Ecom Systems Integrator

Hydro66.com Green Energy Data Centres

book at

Mikael Seppälä’s 2019 work on frameworks of capabilities employed by practitioners in Systems Change

Mikael Seppälä @mikaelseppala We’re convening a Community of Practice of stakeholders around #SystemsChange. To help the process I’m reviewing existing frameworks of capabilities employed by practitioners in the field. Am I missing something? Any efforts we should join? WIP: http://bit.ly/systemschangetraining

(2) Mikael Seppälä on Twitter: “We’re convening a Community of Practice of 🇫🇮 stakeholders around #SystemsChange. To help the process I’m reviewing existing frameworks of capabilities employed by practitioners in the field. Am I missing something? 🤔 Any efforts we should join? 🤝 WIP: https://t.co/SqZDKeAwUy https://t.co/S6ZqsUhw02” / Twitter

somehow I missed this at the time – see the thread:

How can systems thinking be used to build circular cities? | by Mikael Seppälä | Systems Change Finland | Nov, 2021 | Medium

How can systems thinking be used to build circular cities?

How can systems thinking be used to build circular cities? | by Mikael Seppälä | Systems Change Finland | Nov, 2021 | Medium

Magenta Complexity. The UK Treasury adopted new central… | by Bojan Radej | Nov, 2021 | Medium

Magenta Complexity. The UK Treasury adopted new central… | by Bojan Radej | Nov, 2021 | Medium

Magenta Complexity

Bojan Radej

Bojan Radej1 day ago·4 min read

The UK Treasury adopted new central government guidance on evaluation in 2020, so-called The Magenta Book. The new guidance emphasises particular concerns for evaluation in complex conditions highlighting complex systems thinking implications for policymaking that cuts across many areas of governance. CECAN (The Centre for the Evaluation of Complexity Across the Nexus, 2020) welcomes the adoption of a new guide as evidence of a major shift in an approach to policy challenges, analysis, design, and evaluation.

The Magenta Book is accompanied by a special Annex comprising a supplementary guide on handling complexity in policy evaluation, prepared by CECAN. The guide’s goal is the adoption of a more integrated approach to evaluation. It explains what complexity thinking is, what the features of complex systems are, and how new methodologies and tools can equip policymakers to work with unavoidable complexity. In particular, the guide identifies which complexity-appropriate evaluation strategies can be used in various complex conditions.

Recognition of the fundamental challenges of complexity by a central government is an important milestone in policy impact evaluation. Evaluators in other countries must acknowledge this achievement. As practitioners but also as learners or critical observers.

In short review, I focus on what I perceive as the main problem of the guide — its highly problematic theory of change. The authors understand complexity in a reductionist way, even though complexity is an integrative concept, com-plexus originally means braiding together. Two illustrative examples are addressed. First, they decompose the leading features of complexity, and identify partial solutions for each of them. Second, the authors apply either complicated or chaotic explanations of complexity, as if complexity were not an independent concept, containing part of both but also sublating them.

Magenta Complexity Bojan Radej 1 day ago·4 min read

Magenta Complexity. The UK Treasury adopted new central… | by Bojan Radej | Nov, 2021 | Medium

How do we do feminist systems change? | by Tatiana Fraser & Rachel Sinha | Refuge for systems leaders | Nov, 2021 | Medium

How do we do feminist systems change? | by Tatiana Fraser | Refuge for systems leaders | Nov, 2021 | Medium

How do we do feminist systems change?

Tatiana Fraser

Tatiana FraserFollowingNov 10 · 3 min read

Tatiana Fraser & Rachel Sinha

Aligning feminist lens with systems practice

Our new publication launched today, lays out how we combine an intersectional feminist lens with systemic practice.

In summary, we do this by first shifting power and centering lived experience and then, bringing in systems frames to move into strategy

How do we do feminist systems change?

How do we do feminist systems change? | by Tatiana Fraser | Refuge for systems leaders | Nov, 2021 | Medium

updated – The Liminal Web: Mapping An Emergent Subculture Of Sensemakers, Meta-Theorists & Systems Poets – Joe Lightfoot

Updated piece at the bottom fo the same link: https://www.joelightfoot.org/post/the-liminal-web-mapping-an-emergent-subculture-of-sensemakers-meta-theorists-systems-poets

source:

The Liminal Web: Mapping An Emergent Subculture Of Sensemakers, Meta-Theorists & Systems Poets
Joe Lightfoot

The Liminal Web: Mapping An Emergent Subculture Of Sensemakers, Meta-Theorists & Systems Poets

Somewhere along the way I seem to have unofficially joined a subculture or memetic ecosystem that I’ve come to think of as The Liminal Web. While there aren’t any hard and fast edges to this international constellation of thinkers and theorists it becomes pretty clear you’ve joined the fray when at least thirty percent of all the intellectual media you consume tends to emerge from this particular noospheric relay.

The Liminal Web: Mapping An Emergent Subculture Of Sensemakers, Meta-Theorists & Systems Poets

The Liminal Web: Mapping An Emergent Subculture Of Sensemakers, Meta-Theorists & Systems Poets

I commented in a rambling way at the twitter thread (comments on the blog, oddly, are turned off?):

What I said (including cross-links to other pages herein:

My little list

https://stream.syscoi.com/2020/10/08/who-are-our-fellow-travellers/

and

https://t.co/SXpzbADD6c?amp=1

It’s hard to say this without sounding ‘off’, but/and – liking the reflections and dimensions in your actual piece, I feel there is in this list a lot which is:

  • facile/perfomative/pseud-y
  • positioning/insincere/shallow
  • dangerous

stream.syscoi.com

Who are our fellow travellers?

I very much see that there are a large number of movements aligned with my views on systems/cybernetics/complexity and their application, including but not limited to the list below

I’m not sure that’s *helpful* (sorry) – and it says something about me for sure… but somehow I think it needs to be said.

(And there’s a lot missing – of course – because these are imaginary lines that can only be turnd into history in retrospect).

More and more these days, I find myself referencing and thinking about

@Meaningness’s https://meaningness.com/geeks-mops-sociopaths (and

@vgr’s Be Slightly Evil).

This may be all a reflection of my discomfort with the accommodations necessary for success (or jealousy at success).

For me, there’s a set of retreats in:

  • postrat sincere, nonlegible, warmth and whimsy
  • grounded practitioners who are doing and living the life they espouse

(and, for the latter, it’s those who are doing so with a consciousness of continuity of history, with their traditions honestly come by – I’m deeply suspicious of those who claim something new, or have dredged up the old)…

sorry – half-formed thoughts – but I think there’s something (important) there.

Relationship Visualizer: Excel to Graphviz | SourceForge.net

Excel to Graphviz

Excel to Graphviz download | SourceForge.net

Creates graph visualizations of Excel data relationships.

Features

  • Use Excel worksheets to create Graphviz graphs
  • One common macro-enabled spreadsheet which runs on Windows or MacOS
  • Displays graphs within Excel, with ability to save graphs to file
  • Auto refresh feature updates the graph as you enter values into Excel Cells
  • UTF-8 character support for non-Western languages (e.g. Greek)
  • Not an Excel Add-In; all features run as VBA macros in the workbook
  • All features are easily controlled from Excel’s tab interface
  • Style editor for visually defining Node, Edge, and Cluster attributes
  • Saves style definitions by name for reuse, and include predefined flowchart shapes
  • Create multiple graph views from a single set of data
  • View and save the “dot” source code generated from Excel
  • Extract and graph data from other Excel workbooks via SQL queries (Win OS only)
  • Includes help worksheets for Graphviz shapes, colors, and attributes
  • Extensive documentation with simple tutorials
  • Sample files included
  • Export/Import to JSON for backup, source control, and sharing

Complex Networks: Theory, Methods, and Applications – Lake Como School of Advanced Studies – May 16-20, 2022

Complex Networks: Theory, Methods, and Applications Lake Como School of Advanced Studies – May 16-20, 2022

Complex Networks: Theory, Methods, and Applications – Lake Como School of Advanced Studies – May 16-20, 2022

via Complexity Digest

Complex Networks: Theory, Methods, and Applications – Lake Como School of Advanced Studies – May 16-20, 2022

Many real systems can be modeled as networks, where the elements of the system are nodes and interactions between elements are edges. An even larger set of systems can be modeled using dynamical processes on networks, which are in turn affected by the dynamics. Networks thus represent the backbone of many complex systems, and their theoretical and computational analysis makes it possible to gain insights into numerous applications. Networks permeate almost every conceivable discipline —including sociology, transportation, economics and finance, biology, and myriad others — and the study of “network science” has thus become a crucial component of modern scientific education.

The school “Complex Networks: Theory, Methods, and Applications” offers a succinct education in network science. It is open to all aspiring scholars in any area of science or engineering who wish to study networks of any kind (whether theoretical or applied), and it is especially addressed to doctoral students and young postdoctoral scholars. The aim of the school is to deepen into both theoretical developments and applications in targeted fields.

Read the full article at: ntmf.lakecomoschool.org