We are delighted to share the news that there is now a Level 7 Systems Thinking Practitioner Apprenticeship available in England.
Systems thinking practice was developed specifically to address highly complex, adaptive, and dynamic situations. It helps you to model each situation as a system incorporating many different parts, dependencies and relationships. Systems thinking practitioners are uniquely equipped for achieving large-scale transformational change.
If you live in England, you can benefit from the scheme. The Apprenticeship is a two-and-a-half year, day release, post-graduate qualification with government funding of up to £18,000 per person. It is fully supported by expert tutors, comprehensive learning materials, and ongoing action learning.
This is a practice-based, portfolio assessed programme which draws on core systems approaches and practice skills. You’ll be supported in your job to actually put the learning to work right away, and you will be evaluated on how you incorporate your continual learning into your practice.
It’s been designed by practitioners for practitioners — the people who have not just read the books, but have written them. More importantly, these are people who have been there, done it, know about all (or at least most) of the pitfalls, and can guide you away from them.
The professional body for systems practice, SCiO, is providing world-class systems practitioner-tutors, and is supporting the curriculum development and overall approach of the programme. They are acting in collaboration with Cherith Simmons Learning and Development, who provide the apprenticeship. Further details are available here.
If you’re not in England, you can still sign up to individual modules here.
And if you are interested in developing your transformation skills, take a look at the RedQuadrant tool shed. This is a small group action learning journey with Benjamin Taylor, founder of the consultancy RedQuadrant, supported by 24 online modules covering all aspects of organisational transformation. Get a 20% discount by mentioning Enlightened Enterprise Academy.
Link Collection:
My Weekly Blog post:
One thing that truly perplexes and frustrates me is witnessing people, including those I admire, still using the title ‘chairman’ in 2023. There is no valid justification for gendered titles in this day and age, particularly for positions of top corporate authority. Some argue that ‘chairman’ is the original, non-gendered term, and that ‘chair’ is a modern invention. However, ‘chair’ has been used to denote authority for centuries, dating back to 1658. I would steadfastly decline a position labeled ‘chairman.’ A more inclusive approach would be to refer to the activity, such as ‘the person who chairs the board’ or ‘is chairing the meeting.’ Gender-neutral language is not just a matter of semantics; it reflects a broader commitment to equality and progress.
There is a call for papers for a special issue in the Public Health journal on Climate Resilient Health Systems. The call is open to papers that document the effects of climate change or specific climate hazards on health systems at any system level (from local to global), assess related health system vulnerabilities, and/or explore system changes and their consequences in response to climate hazards
Manuscripts should be submitted by 30th April 2024.
Call for submissions! Illuminate Network is seeking 10 high-quality content pieces exploring the intersections of equity, systems change, and collective leadership, for a blog series to be published online in 2024. An honorarium of $3,000 (US) will be provided to those invited to submit completed pieces. 🦋
To be considered, submit your abstract in English or Spanish by 21 October 2023: https://lnkd.in/e_vdwnjd
On LinkedIn (first links), Jessie Lydia Henshaw says:
I’m very pleased to say my newest paper – “Emergent Growth of System Self-Organization & Self-Control,” – was published yesterday by SRBS (the systems research journal). https://lnkd.in/eHNiCCkv.
Sometimes, it’s the small turns that matter, such as from accelerating to decelerating, reversing the innovation directions from multiplying to coordinating, and giving birth to the biggest changes of all, like relieving growth crises and revealing new visions of naturally healthy futures.
It turns out nearly all people already know a great deal about timing the creative turn from multiplying the expansion of startup designs to perfecting them as they grow up to become well-working and lasting designs. The same strategy applies to any scale, for innovations, relationships, and even ways of life that go from rapid profit growth to peak profit as they mature to reach their full potential.
Our economic world is designed to maximize profit, too, but mainly the fast and immature kind, stuck in maximizing the growth of systems that overshoot their resilience to become disruptive and risk their own collapse. It made the work of our lives fast and sloppy just to please finance, not our futures.
Being out of touch with nature and unable to mature kept our world from reaching its full potential, as most responsive growth systems naturally do, responding to their own cohesion to mature their designs inside and out, like our own bodies and minds did to fulfill our individual potentials.
System Conveners are an emerging group of changemakers whose roles are designed to bring people together across sector, organisational and community boundaries, enabling people to share learning across those boundaries and to create positive change in how systems like public services operate. Rather than concentrating on individual services or organisations, the focus is on changing systems, building connections, and being led by people who use services, as well as those who are currently let down or excluded from them.
The New System Alliance, working with Hackney Borough Council and NHS England/the Health Foundation’s Q Community, surveyed people to find out if the Systems Conveners we are aware of are part of an emerging field. We had over 80 responses, the overwhelming majority identifying themselves as Systems Conveners in some way. We are happy to share our briefing – System Convening – what you told us, summarising what was shared about the role, their learning and what they need to do their jobs well.
What we learned from the 80 Systems Conveners who responded to our survey about what Systems Convening is, what makes it work and not work, and what public service systems should learn from this emerging field
An attempt to define this emerging field, and to bring people together for mutual support and connection – you may be the only person doing system change work in your area or your organisation, but you are not alone!
Deciding whether there is a need and energy behind creating an ongoing community of practice, or action network, for Systems Conveners and if so, what it should focus on and do
This free event is open to people who contributed to the original survey, as well as people who are interested in the topic – it would be great to see you there!
I have just stumbled across 48 messages dating back to 2018 through either one of those forms. They might have been going to David Ing, but not to me (Benjamin Taylor) – I can’t find any easy way to respond so will do a mail-merge email to everyone whose email I can find!
October 16 (the third Monday of the month, dodging Thanksgiving) is the 115th meeting for Systems Thinking Ontario.
Anticipatory Systems, Evolution, and Extinction Cascades (Online)
At the announcement of the August 2023 Systems Thinking Ontario session with Judith Rosen in Toronto for an in-person appearance, there were a lot of requests about whether the session would be recorded. Judith agreed to make that in-person talk less formal, and cover the original content in October in a more structured flow.
To encourage conversation, the session will be run in three parts:
Anticipatory Systems
Evolution
Extinction Cascades
Participants will have the opportunity to reflect and ask questions after each part.
Here is the abstract from the original session,
When we think about evolution — specifically the entailment underlying the process of change in species of living organisms, over eons of time, which we call “evolution” — and as we seek to increase our scientific understanding of it, one glaring omission is that there is no mention of the fact that living organisms manifest patterns of behavior that are radically different from non-living systems. Life does not just react, the way all non-living systems do; life also Anticipates. Therefore, we need to factor in the Anticipatory nature of all life into our models (both our mental models and scientific models) and see where that leads us in our understanding. This peculiar Anticipatory pattern of behavior is, in fact, the “signature” of life. According to Robert Rosen, the Anticipatory pattern is ubiquitous in biological systems, at all scales of organization, and is common to all life forms regardless of species. In higher life forms, such as homo sapiens, it is the very same pattern that characterizes mind as well.
Robert Rosen (1934-1998) developed Anticipatory Systems Theory as part of his work in theoretical biology. He predicted that the Anticipatory pattern of behavior he described will, similarly, be present in extraterrestrial life. It is how we recognize living organisms as being “alive” even if we’ve never seen that species before; how we differentiate living systems from non-living systems (whether we are doing so as scientists or not. But, if we seek to understand the entailment of evolutionary processes, then to leave this out of our models is guaranteed to cause problems. Nowhere is the omission more dangerous than in understanding the entailment of extinction cascades.
As it happens, the Anticipatory nature of life has a dark side. For all the benefits it offers, rapid change in the environment is its Achilles Heel. With human-induced rapid global climate change, we are facing a period of such accelerated change that the only things in the fossil record that bear any resemblance to it are the intermittent cataclysms such as large asteroid strikes — which have caused several mass extinctions throughout Earth’s history. Human activity has now (by 2022) changed the composition of Earth’s atmosphere to such a degree that interactions with solar energy are also changing.
Furthermore, the chemistry of the oceans are measurably changing because of the changes in atmospheric composition — becoming more acidic, for example. Thermodynamic changes are also manifesting themselves because of those initial changes, which impacts weather patterns. Changing weather patterns and oscillation between extremes in weather are driving further changes in ecosystems all over the planet. As the planet warms up, sea levels rise. It would be foolish to think that any of these fundamental changes are going to be without consequences to the biosphere. Extinction cascades are made of this. But why? How?
This talk will describe the fundamentals of Anticipatory Systems Theory, and sketch out how this necessarily must be involved in evolutionary entailment. It will illustrate how rapid change in environments causes difficulties that are peculiar to life, and thereby elucidate the entailment of extinction cascades from an Anticipatory Systems perspective. It is hoped that participants will finish with a much better idea of the need for integration of these ideas into our collective efforts, in science and in government. Intelligent planning for the future requires it.
Bio: Judith Rosen is a writer, and science researcher residing in Rochester, NY. She carries on the work of her father, Robert Rosen, republishing materials previously unavailable. Judith often translates the ideas of Robert Rosen to both experts and novices. She has been a long-time contributor to the International Society for the Systems Sciences, and has served as a Vice-President of Conferences.
Venue:
The link for a Zoom conference will be sent upon preregistration.
[I must confess I sniggered when I heard this name. It sounds like a deliberately invented rationalism squared joke… also known as QBism (of course). Not sure about the science myself but / and it feels very cybernetic to me… there are ‘many worlds’ they are just the worlds each of us live in. And with a major antecedent turns out to be Frank Ramsey, therefore a link to Wittgenstein, no wonder! Also there’s a claim that ‘the first quantum Bayesian was von Neumann – truly there were only about 30 people in the 1950s.]
Sorry for all these SCiO posts- but worth reminding occasionally how much rich material there is!
Professional Development includes (all online in this list) currently offered:
Critical Systems Heuristics – foundation, core modules, and advanced
Consulting for Systems Practice Interventions (a) Foundation and (b) core
Viable System Model – foundation, Systems Diagnosis, Systems Design, core modules, Organisational Dynamics, and VSM in multi-methodology work
Patterns of Strategy – foundation, core modules, and advanced
Introduction to systems practice interventions
Introduction to gathering information
Facilitation skills for systems practice interventions
Workshop design for systems practice interventions
Stakeholder engagement – productive conversations
Large group interventions
And the Level 7 Systems Thinking Practitioner Apprenticeship (30 months, Apprenticeship Levy funded in England and Wales) – of which all the above modules form a part.
Would you like to join like-minded people in exploring systems, practice, ideas, feelings and difficulties?
If yes to both, then the Enhanced Learning Club is for you!
SCiO is opening up Cohort 3 (Apprentice Edition) of the Enhanced Learning Club. Here, we have created a safe and accessible space where we can come together to explore systems ideas, concepts and approaches and together, grow our understanding and confidence. This is the place to ask the ‘silly’ questions, to discuss your difficulties, to share your ideas and interpretations whilst helping others do the same. In the ELC, there are no novices, and no experts. Please note: This cohort is open to anyone formally studying Systems Thinking and practice.
SCiO Enhanced Learning ClubAre you an Apprentice studying Systems Thinking?Would you like to join like-minded people in exploring systems, practice, ideas, feelings and difficulties?If yes to both, then the Enhanced Learning Club is for you!ImageSCiO is opening up Cohort 3 (Apprentice Edition) of the Enhanced Learning Club. Here, we have created a safe and accessible space where we can come together to explore systems ideas, concepts and approaches and together, grow our understanding and confidence.This is the place to ask the ‘silly’ questions, to discuss your difficulties, to share your ideas and interpretations whilst helping others do the same. In the ELC, there are no novices, and no experts.Please note: This cohort is open to anyone formally studying Systems Thinking and practice.
SCiO has created a framework of competencies for members who are practitioners of systems thinking, based on our Systems Thinking Body of Knowledge (SysBoK), the systems laws regularly explored in Development Days, and this is aligned to the Institute for Apprenticeship (IfA) Systems Thinking Practice L7 accreditation and their framework of Knowledge, Skills & Behaviours.
This framework details competencies, along with a method for members to self-assess their skill ability, mapping of extent of practice, and evidence, against …
Systems Knowledge and Skills
Systems Thinking Knowledge and Skills
Intervention Skills
The SCiO Competency Framework portfolio form can be downloaded by clicking here and is used to commence the self-assessment process. If you require an editable form of the portfolio form please contact: tony.korycki@systemspractice.org. The CF resource guide that provides references for each item in the portfolio form can be downloaded by clicking here.
The fee for undertaking the assessment is £95. Once qualified, you may be invited by SCiO or SPA to carry out assessments of other members of SCiO applying for a professional qualification. SCiO CF assessment is carried out by Systems Practitioner Assessment Ltd (SPA) for SCiO, and uses a four-step process:
If you would like a practitioner grading awarded, you may submit your CF self-assessment to contact@systemspractitionerassessment.org, and we will contact you within 20 working days, to arrange a CF assessment interview.
Self-assessment review and competency grading is supported by an assessment interview with two Systems Thinking practitioners, using a method based on exploration of a number of practice situations, using standard criteria: Situation, Objectives/Goals, Actions, Results and Aftermath/Learning, the SOARA method.
On completion of this 2-hour assessment interview, we will award you a practitioner grade.
If you submit your CF for review and grading, this will be based on the following criteria:
Practitioner
Able to use one or more systems methodologies or methods with support, with at least a skill level of ‘2’ in your primary approach.
Able to use one or more of the intervention approaches that are consistent with and required for their chosen systems methodology or method.
May have practiced on systemic issues in only one sector or organisation, and may have only practiced in a part of an organisation that they control or manage.
Certified Practitioner
Able to use one or more systems methodologies or methods without support, with at least a skill level of ‘3’ in your primary approach.
Can use several intervention approaches that are consistent with and required for their chosen systems methods or methodologies, and has applied a range of options for how to plan, manage and execute an intervention.
May have practiced on systemic issues in only one organisation, and may have only practiced within their own organisation, but will have worked in or on organisations outside their immediate control.
Advanced Practitioner
Able to use and supervise others in at least three systems methodologies or methods, and can apply systems laws and principles directly to situations.
Can use several intervention approaches that are consistent with and required for their chosen systems methods or methodologies, and has applied a range of options for how to plan, manage and execute an intervention.
Will have practiced on systemic outside of their own organisation. This does not mean being contracted out of a “home” organisation, but must have worked on situations wider than just contained within the home organisation.
Fellow
Has developed one or more new systems methodologies or methods that others can use, and can apply systems laws and principles directly to situations.
Can use several intervention approaches that are consistent with and required for their chosen systems methods or methodologies, and has applied a range of options for how to plan, manage and execute an intervention.
Will have practiced in multiple sectors, and/or on systemic issues outside of their organisation. Will have worked on multi-organisational problems.
In addition to the above gradings, SCiO may also award a supplementary title of Technical Expert in specific fields to applicants who are able to show that they:
Can supervise others in the use of one or more systems thinking methods or methodologies.
Can train others in the use of one or more systems thinking methods or methodologies.
Classification at skill levels will support mentoring, continual professional development priorities and support for IfA systems thinking practitioner apprenticeship assessment.
SCiO manages the Competency Framework criteria and resource guide of references according to a specific policy and procedure; if you have any issues, concerns or proposals for improvement relating to the CF items or reference resources, you can access this document by clicking here.
Without tackling the fundamental philosophy of biological complexity, we might never truly understand how living organisms work
Kevin J Mitchell is associate professor in developmental neurobiology at Trinity College, Dublin. He can be found on Twitter @WiringtheBrain
The Biologist 64(6) p6
What are ‘the laws of biology’?Without tackling the fundamental philosophy of biological complexity, we might never truly understand how living organisms workThe Biologist 64(6) p6
Crick’s Central Dogma has been a foundational aspect of 20th century biology, describing an implicit relationship governing the flow of information in biological systems in biomolecular terms. Accumulating scientific discoveries support the need for a revised Central Dogma to buttress evolutionary biology’s still-fledgling migration from a Neodarwinian canon. A reformulated Central Dogma to meet contemporary biology is proposed: all biology is cognitive information processing. Central to this contention is the recognition that life is the self-referential state, instantiated within the cellular form. Self-referential cells act to sustain themselves and to do so, cells must be in consistent harmony with their environment. That consonance is achieved by the continuous assimilation of environmental cues and stresses as information to self-referential observers. All received cellular information must be analyzed to be deployed as cellular problem-solving to maintain homeorhetic equipoise. However, the effective implementation of information is definitively a function of orderly information management. Consequently, effective cellular problem-solving is information processing and management. The epicenter of that cellular information processing is its self-referential internal measurement. All further biological self-organization initiates from this obligate activity. As the internal measurement by cells of information is self-referential by definition, self-reference is biological self-organization, underpinning 21st century Cognition-Based Biology.
A revised central dogma for the 21st century: All biology is cognitive information processingAuthor links open overlay panelWilliam B. Miller Jr. a, František Baluška b, Arthur S. Reber c
www.antlerboy.com * curator at www.syscoi.com * The Public Service Transformation Academy - Chief Executive - www.publicservicetransformation.org * RedQuadrant - public service network consultancy - www.redquadrant.com * SCiO - non-exec director - www.systemspractice.org * Quadrant Resourcing - excellent interim change people - www.quadrantresourcing.com I tweet at www.twitter.com/antlerboy Please connect to me at www.linkedin.com/in/antlerboy benjamin.taylor@redquadrant.com +44 (0)7931317230
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chosen path 