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Systemic Design Principles in Social Innovation: A Study of Expert Practices and Design Rationales – ScienceDirect

She Ji: The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation

Volume 6, Issue 3, Autumn 2020, Pages 386-407

Systemic Design Principles in Social Innovation: A Study of Expert Practices and Design Rationales

Author links open overlay panelMieke van derBijl-Brouwer¹BridgetMalcolm²Show morehttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.sheji.2020.06.001Get rights and contentUnder a Creative Commons licenseopen access

Highlights

•

Systemic design is an emerging field of practice within social innovation.•

Using a systems lens, we identify systemic design principles in expert practice.•

Systemic perspective-taking and problem exploration are practice-related principles.•

Principles in design rationales include influencing both human relations and mental models.•

We promote mutual learning between social innovation frontrunners and academia.

Abstract

In recent decades, design has expanded from a practice aimed at designing things to one that helps to address complex societal challenges. In this context, a field of practice called systemic design has emerged, which combines elements of systems thinking with elements of design. We use a case study approach to investigate how expert practitioners carry out systemic design work in the context of public and social innovation, and explore what we can learn from their practices and design rationales when we compare them to systems thinking theories and approaches. Based on findings from five case studies, we present five systemic design principles: 1) opening up and acknowledging the interrelatedness of problems; 2) developing empathy with the system; 3) strengthening human relationships to enable creativity and learning; 4) influencing mental models to enable change; and 5) adopting an evolutionary design approach to desired systemic change. One way that scholars can contribute to this field is by continuing to monitor and describe emerging systemic design principles developed and performed at the forefront of the field, strengthening these learnings by building on the body of knowledge about systems thinking and design.

source:

Systemic Design Principles in Social Innovation: A Study of Expert Practices and Design Rationales – ScienceDirect

source:

Xiao Liu, “Information Fantasies: Precarious Mediation in Postsocialist China” (U Minnesota Press, 2019) | New Books Network

XIAO LIU

Information Fantasies

Precarious Mediation in Postsocialist China

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA PRESS 2019

January 2, 2020 Tom Scholte

International and transnational historiography has given us vivid glimpses of the development and impact of cybernetics on a national scale in such countries as the Soviet Union, Chile and, of course, in the US and Great Britain where the field initially began to coalesce. Now, Xiao Liu’s Information Fantasies: Precarious Mediation in Postsocialist China (University of Minnesota Press, 2019) makes a massive contribution to the field by opening up a fascinating new vista for scholars of cybernetics, film studies, literature, media studies, science and technology studies, and beyond.

Liu’s meticulously researched and crisply written book takes us from the heady days of China’s “qi gong craze” and notions of the human body as a transparent medium through which “information waves” could pass, through investment and research into “a theory of metasynthetic wisdom” that could lead to a “global human-machine intelligent system,” the evolution of “expert systems” to provide knowledge and guidance in the absence of human experts, the novel deployment of Ross Ashby’s theory of “ultrastability” to describe China’s supposed resistance to modernization, information aesthetics within a new rising tide of advertising and market activity, and much, much more.

All of this combines to a reveal a China after Mao, vigorously employing the theoretical tools of cybernetics to, not only re-configure its socio-political image on a national scale, but to actually craft a new post-socialist subjectivity at the scale of the individual citizen. Illustrating the profound impacts of, and reactions to, these efforts through provocative samplings from Chinese literature, film, and popular culture writ large, Liu manages, in the words of Oxford’s Margaret Hillenbrand to “entirely reconfigure our understanding of the media landscape in 1980’s China.”

source:

Xiao Liu, “Information Fantasies: Precarious Mediation in Postsocialist China” (U Minnesota Press, 2019) | New Books Network

Overcast:

https://overcast.fm/+LUTIRagX8

 25th ICCRTS Information Central

This year’s Symposium will be a Virtual Event held over 10 days – November 2-6 and 9-13, 2020

Microsoft Teams will be our virtual Platform

Avoid Late Registration register by October 15 2020

To receive email updates, please contact us at: info@internationalc2institute.org

Registration is Now open

Registration Information

In additional to plenaries and peer-reviewed technical paper sessions, additional sessions will include:

Concept Papers and Workshops

25th ICCRTS Program (members only), click here

http://internationalc2institute.org/2020-iccrts-information-central

registration info: http://internationalc2institute.org/2020-iccrts-registration-fee-information

source:

Lehman’s laws of software evolution – Wikipedia

Lehman’s laws of software evolution

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In software engineering, the laws of software evolution refer to a series of laws that Lehman and Belady formulated starting in 1974 with respect to software evolution.^[1][2] The laws describe a balance between forces driving new developments on one hand, and forces that slow down progress on the other hand. Over the past decades the laws have been revised and extended several times.^[3]

Context[edit]

Observing that most software is subject to change in the course of its existence, the authors set out to determine laws that these changes will typically obey, or must obey in order for the software to survive.^{[citation needed]}

In his 1980 article,^[1] Lehman qualified the application of such laws by distinguishing between three categories of software:

• An S-program is written according to an exact specification of what that program can do
• A P-program is written to implement certain procedures that completely determine what the program can do (the example mentioned is a program to play chess)
• An E-program is written to perform some real-world activity; how it should behave is strongly linked to the environment in which it runs, and such a program needs to adapt to varying requirements and circumstances in that environment

The laws are said to apply only to the last category of systems.

The laws[edit]

All told, eight laws were formulated:

1. (1974) “Continuing Change” — an E-type system must be continually adapted or it becomes progressively less satisfactory.^[4]
2. (1974) “Increasing Complexity” — as an E-type system evolves, its complexity increases unless work is done to maintain or reduce it.^[4]
3. (1974) “Self Regulation” — E-type system evolution processes are self-regulating with the distribution of product and process measures close to normal.^[4]
4. (1978) “Conservation of Organisational Stability (invariant work rate)” — the average effective global activity rate in an evolving E-type system is invariant over the product’s lifetime.^[4]
5. (1978) “Conservation of Familiarity” — as an E-type system evolves, all associated with it, developers, sales personnel and users, for example, must maintain mastery of its content and behaviour to achieve satisfactory evolution. Excessive growth diminishes that mastery. Hence the average incremental growth remains invariant as the system evolves.^[4]
6. (1991) “Continuing Growth” — the functional content of an E-type system must be continually increased to maintain user satisfaction over its lifetime.
7. (1996) “Declining Quality” — the quality of an E-type system will appear to be declining unless it is rigorously maintained and adapted to operational environment changes.^[5]
8. (1996) “Feedback System” (first stated 1974, formalised as law 1996) — E-type evolution processes constitute multi-level, multi-loop, multi-agent feedback systems and must be treated as such to achieve significant improvement over any reasonable base.

source:

Lehman’s laws of software evolution – Wikipedia

source:

(99+) (PDF) Systems science and systems thinking for public health: a systematic review of the field | Gemma Carey, Brad Crammond, and Andrew Joyce – Academia.edu

Systems science and systems thinking
for public health: a systematic review
of the field
Gemma Carey,1 Eleanor Malbon,2 Nicole Carey,3 Andrew Joyce,4
Brad Crammond,5 Alan Carey6
To cite: Carey G, Malbon E,
Carey N, et al. Systems
science and systems thinking
for public health: a
systematic review of the field.
BMJ Open 2015;5:e009002.
doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2015-
009002
▸ Prepublication history and
additional material is
available. To view please visit
the journal (http://dx.doi.org/
10.1136/bmjopen-2015-
009002).
Received 6 June 2015
Revised 23 October 2015
Accepted 11 November 2015
1Regulatory Institutions
Network Australian National
University, Canberra,
Australia
2The Australian Prevention
Partnership Centre, Sax
Institute, Sydney, Australia
3Self-organizing Systems
Research Group School of
engineering and applied
sciences Harvard University
4Centre for Social Impact,
Swinburne University,
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
5Centre for Epidemiology and
Preventive Health. Monash
University, Melbourne,
Australia
6Maths Science Institute
Australian National University
Correspondence to
Dr Gemma Carey;
Gemma.carey@anu.edu.au

ABSTRACT
Objectives: This paper reports on findings from a
systematic review designed to investigate the state of
systems science research in public health. The
objectives were to: (1) explore how systems
methodologies are being applied within public health
and (2) identify fruitful areas of activity.
Design: A systematic review was conducted from
existing literature that draws on or uses systems
science (in its various forms) and relates to key public
health areas of action and concern, including tobacco,
alcohol, obesity and the social determinants of health.
Data analysis: 117 articles were included in the
review. An inductive qualitative content analysis was
used for data extraction. The following were
systematically extracted from the articles: approach,
methodology, transparency, strengths and weaknesses.
These were then organised according to theme (ie,
commonalities between studies within each category),
in order to provide an overview of the state of the field
as a whole. The assessment of data quality was
intrinsic to the goals of the review itself, and therefore,
was carried out as part of the analysis.
Results: 4 categories of research were identified from
the review, ranging from editorial and commentary
pieces to complex system dynamic modelling. Our
analysis of each of these categories of research
highlighted areas of potential for systems science to
strengthen public health efforts, while also revealing a
number of limitations in the dynamic systems
modelling being carried out in public health.
Conclusions: There is a great deal of interest in how
the application of systems concepts and approach
might aid public health. Our analysis suggests that soft
systems modelling techniques are likely to be the most
useful addition to public health, and align well with
current debate around knowledge transfer and policy.
However, the full range of systems methodologies is
yet to be engaged with by public health

source:

(99+) (PDF) Systems science and systems thinking for public health: a systematic review of the field | Gemma Carey, Brad Crammond, and Andrew Joyce – Academia.edu

source:

Shape of things to come: From the ‘laws of form’ to management in the post-growth economy | ephemera

Shape of things to come: From the ‘laws of form’ to management in the post-growth economy

Organizing for the post-growth economyarticle

André Reichel

17-1reichel.pdf

abstract

Departing from George Spencer-Brown’s Laws of form and the works of German sociologist Dirk Baecker, a formal model of the firm in the post-growth economy is developed. In following a post-classical approach – and some reference to system theory by Niklas Luhmann as well as the works on autonomous systems by Francisco Varela – we, first, show the explanatory power of Spencer-Brown’s indicational notation for conceptualizing organizational and managerial problem situations, thus contributing a novel approach to the theory of the firm. Secondly, model insights about the nature of the firm, its management, and its relation to a changing environment with limits to economic expansion and increased societal demands are contrasted with existing strands of more classical managerial research and their findings. Thus, it is possible to theoretically substantiate new perspectives on the future ‘hard core’ of management practice around the notions of ethics, values, and collaboration, while also describing the scope and direction of changes in the firm’s societal, economic, and ecological environments.

continues in source:

Shape of things to come: From the ‘laws of form’ to management in the post-growth economy | ephemera

via David Ing via Gordon Rowland

Dyer G., Jones J., Rowland G. & Zweifel S. (2015) The Banathy Conversation Methodology. Constructivist Foundations 11(1): 42–50

Volume 11 · Number 1 · Pages 42–50< Previous Paper · Next Paper >The Banathy Conversation Methodology

Gordon Dyer, Jed Jones, Gordon Rowland & Silvia Zweifel

Log in download the full text in PDF

> Citation > Similar > References > Add CommentShare on

ABSTRACT

Context: Thirty years ago, members of the systems science community discovered that at their conferences, more was being accomplished in the breaks than in the sessions. Led by Bela H. Banathy, they cancelled the sessions and created a conversation methodology that has proven far more effective. Dozens of conversations have now been held around the world. Problem: At a recent conversation in Linz, Austria, a team devoted its inquiry to the Banathy Conversation Methodology (BCM) itself, asking, in particular, how to develop and spread the methodology further, beyond the systems science community. Method: The team captured key features and benefits of BCM and developed new tools. Results: Described herein are the development of the methodology, its theoretical underpinnings, the methodology itself, heuristics for successful conversations, and an example of how the methodology is spreading. Implications: Ultimately, the hope is to develop the methodology in such ways that communities could apply it to meet significant challenges and co-create their futures.

Key words: Conversation, dialogue, guided evolution, social systems design

CITATION

Dyer G., Jones J., Rowland G. & Zweifel S. (2015) The banathy conversation methodology. Constructivist Foundations 11(1): 42–50. http://constructivist.info/11/1/042

source:

Dyer G., Jones J., Rowland G. & Zweifel S. (2015) The Banathy Conversation Methodology. Constructivist Foundations 11(1): 42–50

source:

Business and Economic Understanding at Large Scale | Free ‘Introduction to Complexity’ Article

source:

Business and Economic Understanding at Large Scale | Free ‘Introduction to Complexity’ Article

source:

Living with the Global Problematique w/ Peter Jones – YouTube

Living with the Global Problematique w/ Peter Jones

Living with the Global Problematique w/ Peter Jones – YouTube

Berkana Institue resource – Berkana’s Explorations: How does change happen in living systems? The Life-cycle of Emergence: Using emergence to take social innovation to scale – Margaret Wheatley & Deborah Frieze

source (h/t systems innovation):

Pioneering a New Paradigm – Berkana Institute

• Resources >

Pioneering a New Paradigm

Books / Booklets / Downloadable PDFs

Berkana’s Explorations: How does change happen in living systems?

The Life-cycle of Emergence: Using emergence to take social innovation to scale

Margaret Wheatley & Deborah Frieze

Download the PDF in English >

Download the PDF in Spanish >

Videos

Berkana Learning Journeys

Grace Lee Boggs in Detroit

Berkana’s Explorations: How does change happen in living systems? “How I became a localist” Deborah Frieze TedX in Jamaica Plain

Articles

1. Berkana’s Explorations: How does change happen in living systems?
   “Are You a Walk-Out?” – Margaret Wheatley & Deborah Frieze
2. Berkana’s Explorations: How does change happen in living systems?
   “Two Loops” in After Now by Bob Stilger
3. Name, Connect, Nourish, Illuminate
   “Supporting Pioneering Leaders as Communities of Practice” – Margaret Wheatley
4. Name, Connect, Nourish, Illuminate
   “New Stories’ Spiral” in After Now by Bob Stilger
5. From Hero to Host to Warrior
   “The Servant Leader: From Hero to Host” – Margaret Wheatley
6. From Hero to Host to Warrior
   “Leadership Lessons from the Real World” – Margaret Wheatley
7. From Hero to Host to Warrior
   “An Invitation to the Nobility of Leadership” – Margaret Wheatley
8. From Hero to Host to Warrior
   “My Personal Journey into Warriorship”—Margaret Wheatley”
9. From Hero to Host to Warrior
   “SOUNDS TRUE Interview ”—Margaret Wheatley”

source:

Pioneering a New Paradigm – Berkana Institute

Gödel’s incompleteness theorems

Gödel’s incompleteness theorems – Wikipedia