In this post we look at how we can create a sustainable system, how we can operate as a sustainable system, and the results this will help us achieve. What would happen if everyone came to work and just did their own thing? Even with the best of intentions, this would not be a great […]
Is Making a Profit in Conflict with Doing Good? It’s All About Pie
When you frame the question of making a profit versus doing good as a conflict, you can quickly get to the root of the problem. Much of it has to do with the way we think about what profit is. When we challenge our understanding of profit, all kinds of new possibilities arise. How do we […]
How to Create a Systemic Strategy
Strategy is about identifying a direction and creating robust solutions to move coherently in that direction. It involves identifying the systemic changes that need to be created. There are three main phases for this: what to change what to change to how to make the change happen For each of these phases, there is […]
Complexity in Financial and Economic Systems – Adding Clarity
Complexity is all around us, but do we really understand what it means? And how are financial markets and economic systems affected by it? In this post, Dr. Giovanni Siepe takes a systemic perspective. What is a system and what does complexity mean? There are many conversations taking place about complexity and complex systems. In […]
Systems Thinking and Public Policy – Start Making Sense
An article in Governing.com informs about how linear logic drastically failed the Boston suburb of Somerville when a highway and an overpass were built right through it. The unintended consequences of the road building that seemed rational were huge for the community of the suburb. Mayor Curtatone had the good sense to team up with a Systems […]
Free Yourself and Your Organization from Limiting Beliefs
Every individual, business and organization experiences the sensation of getting stuck at some point. They know they are capable of doing more, even significantly more, but they don’t know how. We learn from the Theory of Constraints that this situation of blockage is an opportunity. It is created not by what is real but what […]
How Can Systems Thinking Help Organizations?
Question: I have an organizational situation that I need to address and I’m not sure how to go about it. I’ve been hearing a lot about something called systems thinking and I’m interested in understanding what it is and how I benefit from it addressing the situation at hand. Your thoughts on how to pursue […]
Does Universal Healthcare Make Any Sense?
A recent conversation was a reminder that few things like universal healthcare can mark a divide between Americans and Europeans (and Canadians). Americans tend to consider healthcare not a right but something to be earned. There is a moral argument going on here. But what if providing healthcare for all just makes scientific and economic sense? […]
Protecting Projects from Chaos: A Tool
Projects can easily get out of hand. They are subject to the chaos that can arise when human interactions are not governed by precise guidelines. Entropy exists and it affects behaviours as well everything else. When we use the Transition Tree Tool to break projects down into actions we are protecting projects from chaos: at […]
Being a Positive Influence in Challenging Times
There’s a lot of noise and chaos out there. At times reality feels more like being King Lear in the middle of a cosmic storm than any kind of “normality”. (Acclaimed actress Glenda Jackson at the age of 80 is currently delivering a knock out performance as King Lear in London for those lucky enough […]