Systems Community of Inquiry

Hi all systems people!

I am a recent graduate from Aalto University, Finland, where I studied in the interdisciplinary Creative Sustainability master’s degree program. Systems thinking was one of the bedrocks of the program, and we were fortunate to have David Ing teach us about systems sciences in one of our courses. David has been giving me advice after the course, and after a recent conversation about how to apply systems thinking, he requested that I post my question to SysCoI. So here goes.

My question is: How would you advice a recent graduate entering the workforce to apply systems thinking? Where would you start and what practices would you implement? I would also love to hear any stories of how you have applied systems thinking and practices to real life problem settings.

Thank you already in advance!

Working with social computing technologies can involve a lot of learning-by-trying.

While there is some similarities with “innovation configurations” research on implementation knowledge, this definition of learning-by-trying focuses on the integrating.

“Each configuration is built up from a range of components to meet the very specific requirements of the particular use organization. Configurations therefore demand substantial user input and effort if they are to be at all successful, and such inputs can provide the raw material for significant innovation” (Fleck 1994, 637–38).

Configuring social computing technologies don’t follow the characteristics of wicked problems. The issues are typically complicated rather than complex, and can be worked out with time.

Fleck, James. 1994. “Learning by Trying: The Implementation of Configurational Technology.” Research Policy 23 (6): 637–652. doi:10.1016/0048-7333(94)90014-0.