Session 1.Intro & Systems Thinking

Whole Systems Thinking

Simon Goland, B.Sc, M.Sc, M.A., Ph.D. (almost)

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Systems Thinking - Understanding the Reality around us!

Sustainability - The Kind of Future We Might Have (to Create)!

Leadership - What is Needed from Us to Have a Future at All

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Whole Systems Thinking

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www.RightLivelihoodQuest.com

Educator Facilitator, Consultant

Business/Professional/Executive

Coach

Right Livelihood Quest

www.SimonGoland.com

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About Simon Goland

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Where Are We Going?

Introduction!Systems Thinking (1, 2, 3)!Sustainable Development (4, 5, 6)!Leadership - Creative, Innovative, Courageous (7)!Final Presentations (8)!Course Completion


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How?


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Evaluation

Engagement & Participation!Reflection!Team Project!

Final Paper!Final Presentation


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Team Project

Choose a Situation/Issue/Organization!After Systems Thinking - Expand!After Sustainable Development - Expand!After Leadership - Expand (final)!Final Presentation & Paper


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Team Project

Choose a Situation/Issue/Organization!What is the Reality Here (Systems Thinking)?!How to Make It Better (Sustainable Development)?!How to Implement It (Leadership)?!Final Presentation & Paper


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Today...

Welcome and Introduction!Course Overview!Big Picture Context!Starting Systems Thinking!Mental Models!Ladder of Inference!Tasks for Next Session

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Education

Business

Social

Government

Employment

Environment

Health

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What Do You Know About Leadership?

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1 Giant Leap

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Where Are We At? Where Are We Heading?

How?

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Systems Thinking

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What is a “System?”

Whole Systems Thinking > Systems Thinking

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Systems Thinking

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A set of interacting or interdependent entities, real or

abstract, forming an integrated whole.


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Examples of...

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System Not System

Why?


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In Your Teams: - 3 Examples of a System - 3 Examples of “not a System” (and Why)

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Systems Thinking


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Quality of Your Dinner?


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Cause and Effect


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Systems Thinking

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The word “system” is derived from the Greek “synhistanai” (“to place together”).

To understand things systemically means: to put them into a context, to establish the nature of their

relationships.


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I’m$sure$glad$the$hole$isn’t$in$our$end...$


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“The le sson is that i f you're ser ious abou t be ing a le ader, you should ar range to fa l l in love , e ar ly and of ten, wi th chaos and comple x i t y. . . . If a s i t uat ion

seems too chao t ic for you to unders tand, that doe sn't me an i t 's more chao t ic than the re a l i t y wi th which

you are go ing to have to de a l . I t may jus t be a c lue for you to widen your lens and deepen your thoughts .”

- Har lan C le ve land, “Nobody in Charge”


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The Iceberg: Events – Patterns – Structure


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Solution? Or New Problem?

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“The chie f cause of problems is so lu t ions .” -

Er ic Se vare id


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Solution to Food Insecurity... !

Introduced to Asia and Africa in late 1960s.

Proved detrimental: • biodiversity loss • increased use of agro-chemical based pest & weed control • water logging • salinization • land degradation


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Hunger still exists in the regions where it has been most

successful !

Proved detrimental: • biodiversity loss • increased use of agro-chemical based pest & weed control • water logging • salinization • land degradation


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“The chie f cause of problems is so lu t ions .” - Er ic Se vare id


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What is Systems Thinking?

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• A mindset (holistic vs. mechanistic or reductionist thinking) • A set of tools for diagnosing complex problems • A process for collective inquiry, which uncovers and helps people see:

• Wholes rather than parts • Interrelationships rather than things • Interdependencies rather than linear cause & effect chains • Processes of change (patterns) rather than snapshots

• A method for testing assumptions • Tools that support reflection & inquiry • A process for learning


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Benefits of Systems Thinking

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• Understand how organizations function • Change our own thinking (mental models) about why systems operate

in a particular way • Build shared understanding of issues which is critical for collaboration

and commitment • Change our behavior so that we are working with these complex

forces instead of against them • Develop a greater appreciation of the impact of our strategies on other

people in the system • Gain a better understanding of the impact of delays and the need to

balance short-term and long-term objectives • Anticipate unintended consequences of well-intentioned strategies


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High Level Overview…

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10 Words

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Slumber PillowDream Night

Bed BlanketQuiet PajamasNap Snooze


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10 Words

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Slumber PillowDream Night

Bed BlanketQuiet PajamasNap Snooze


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Mental Models

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Internal representations of reality that people use to understand specific phenomena/

situations/events. !

Deeply held internal images of how the world works, images that limit us to familiar ways of

thinking and acting. Very often, we are not consciously aware of our mental models or the

effects they have on our behavior.


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Mental Model Characteristics

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• Incomplete and constantly evolving • Usually not accurate representations of a phenomenon;

they typically contain errors and contradictions • Provide simplified explanations of complex phenomena


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Debrief


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1.Decide on the Organization for your Team Project 2.Patterns in Your Life - Observe. Notice. Reflect. Record. !3.Readings:

A. Donella Meadows - Dancing with Systems B. Peter Senge - Fifth Discipline (Chapter 2)


For Next Session...

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Patterns

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You may want to perform the reflective part of this special journal posting while you take a walk in nature or in an urban setting. You may also do it while you are at work or with your family. Your objective is to identify as many patterns as possible. !The first part of this activity is an observation exercise. Look around in your environment and surrounding and take note of all the different patterns you notice; you may also notice patterns that emerge in your mind. Write them down. !Patterns may be tangible (e.g., flow of cars in the street or waves in the ocean, human behavior), or intangible (e.g., thought patterns, particular recurring feelings, moods, etc.) or behavior over time. !When done, capture the list of patterns in your journal. Then, take 2 different patterns of your choice and describe them using words, pictures and/or graphs.


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Questions

Comments


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Session 1.Intro & Systems Thinking

Documents

Transcript of Session 1.Intro & Systems Thinking