Some time ago, I was challenged to do this with the 'six diagrams' constraint... For me, it's all about purposeful engagement with context. We need enough shared understanding to act purposefully with others, while remaining able to question how we understand the situation. A ‘team’, a ‘service’, or a ‘problem’ is already a way of … Continue reading A more useful fly-bottle – systems | cybernetics | complexity in six diagrams →

My weekly posts The better I understand some systems models, the less inclined I am to explain them unprompted The more deeply I understand systems models, the less willing I am to inflict the technical machinery on everyone. Competence is not merely knowing the diagram; it is knowing what to notice, which questions to ask, … Continue reading Transduction – leading transformation – Issue #236 →

Join the conversation on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/posts/antlerboy_sysprac26-activity-7501233111104524289-wPd1 The better I understand some systems models, the less inclined I am to explain them unprompted.One of our Systems Thinking Practitioner apprentices put the problem neatly: as they get further into the models, they’re seeing more. More relationships, nuance, technical detail. Which means that when they try to explain the … Continue reading The better I understand some systems models, the less inclined I am to explain them unprompted.  →

My weekly posts There is no outside: two systems practice labs at SysPrac26 I’m running two genuinely practical labs at SysPrac26: one on helping without taking over, and one on making relational, place-based public services stick. Both begin from the same awkward truth: the consultant is already in the system, and good practice is already … Continue reading Transduction – leading transformation – Issue #236 →

Join the discussion on linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/posts/antlerboy_sysprac26-systemspractice-relationalpublicservices-activity-7497908640293695490-VuEp I’m doing two workshops at hashtag#SysPrac26; a slightly alarming pair (as the performance artist said to the episcopal authority figure)...‘The consultant is in the system: a practice lab for helping without taking over’‘The system is inside the practice: making relational, place-based public services ordinary’There is no outside!In the first … Continue reading There is no outside: two systems practice labs at SysPrac26 →

My weekly posts Thoughts on Renaisi’s pattern book for place-based change The Renaisi Pattern Book is excellent, but patterns are not the place operating system. We need sharper distinctions between mechanisms, actors and effects, with power and equity running through the whole thing. Scale is about spreading the conditions for good local judgement, not replicating … Continue reading Transduction – leading transformation – Issue #235 →

Join the conversation on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/antlerboy_patterns-the-right-level-for-place-based-share-7496165471935827968-Phk9/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAADUV_eUBZSxZvFpx70OV050F6K5HM2MhTMo Patterns - the right level for place-based change? I think the Pattern Book from John Hitchin and Anna Waldie is starting one level too high.It's great. Not a collection of ‘good examples’, branded models, generic principles, or instructions on scaling! The 13 patterns are recurring mechanisms, with conditions, dependencies, evidence, failure modes, and … Continue reading Thoughts on Renaisi’s pattern book for place-based change →

Join the conversation on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/posts/antlerboy_epistemological-closure-im-writing-about-share-7495375130819338240-988V/ 'Epistemological closure'. I'm writing about it a lot, and I see a lot of it around - I think LLMs often help people see it! It's the process through which a person, institution, or society loses the ability to encounter reality outside its own categories, incentives, language-games, legitimacy structures. … Continue reading Epistemological closure is everywhere →