This week:
- Upcoming Events
- Systems and Complexity in Organisation
- Podcasts
- Management
Upcoming Events:
SE Stakeholder Engagement – Productive Conversations (0.5d)
This training programme could equally be called ‘honest conversations’, ‘difficult conversations’, ‘constructive conversations’, or ‘challenging conversations’.
Fundamental to the success and flavour of organisational life – and systems practice interventions – are the quality of conversations we are able to have. If we can develop an honest and shared attempt to get at shared understanding – shared ‘truth’ if you like – or at least to fully appreciate each others’ understanding – then we can make true progress.
This interactive session will:
- Discuss different types of feedback / difficult conversation
- Understand how the brain rationalises and protect us
- Increase awareness of our own habits and perceptions
- Prepare and plan for a difficult conversation
- Have effective performance conversations
- Learn how to respond / look after yourself in the moment
And help you to have productive conversations even when it seems most unlikely. You will need to bring a record of an ‘unproductive’ conversation you have had, or fear having, and be prepared to work with others around it and other examples. You will end the session with the ability to surface more productive conversations even when it is difficult.
Trainer
These courses are delivered by Benjamin P Taylor, an expert in systems, cybernetics, and complexity in service transformation.
Pricing Info
£250 +VAT
To enquire please go on this link: https://www.systemspractice.org/courses/ise-stakeholder-engagement-productive-conversations-05d
ILG Large Group Interventions (1.0d)
In a classic 2005 article, ‘Techniques to Match our Values’, Weisbord set out the ‘learning curve’, with a movement from ‘experts solve problems’ to ‘’everybody’ solves problems’ to ‘experts improve whole systems’ to ‘’everybody’ improves whole systems’. Inherent in the development of systems practice from the start has been recognition of ‘the whole’, which comes in various forms from group dynamics to organisational viability.
This programme will give an overview of intervention approaches which ‘bring whole systems into the room’ rather than have a few experts work on individual issues. We will look at some of the history and the wide range of interventions that have been developed, and provide an overview of some of the most interesting.
We will compare and contrast these approaches and provide ‘ways in’ to consider when, and which, large group intervention might be an appropriate part of a systems practice intervention.
Trainer
These courses are delivered by Benjamin P Taylor, an expert in systems, cybernetics, and complexity in service transformation.
Pricing Info
£500 +VAT
To enquire please go on this link: https://www.systemspractice.org/courses/ilg-large-group-interventions-10d
ICS3 Workshop Design (0.5d)
This module provides learners with an understanding of the design of workshops and relevant considerations, taking into account the potentially very different contexts and definitions of what a ‘workshop’ is. It introduces a range of tools and approaches for workshop design, building on the facilitation module. It gives tools to consider evaluation and learning about workshop design, and compares various approaches, enabling learners to better select and apply appropriate workshop design approaches to their context.
A workshop can be distinguished from a meeting (though the boundaries may be blurry at times), by some of the following indicators:
- intensive discussion and activity, designed to progress thinking and planning
- intentionally designed activities (rather than simply an agenda), or flow
- an impact focus, usually above and beyond just a discussion or decision – some kind of output taking an intervention or initiative forward
An alternative use of the work, to workshop (something), refers to taking a product or idea into a period of intense focused experimentation and development, often bringing in fresh or different perspectives than the original developers of the product or idea. This is of course closely related, but implies some partly-developed ‘content’ as the workshop focus, as opposed to simply a product or idea. In either case, some input is expected to a workshop, whether process, content, or both.
The learning will cover:
- What a workshop is
- Where and when we might use a workshop
- A range of tools and approaches
- How to appropriately select an approach, and design a workshop to fit the requirements in context
- The importance of reflection and how to evaluate and build a learning loop
- Workshop design tools, core and conceptual
This is a very practical, hands-on course based on you creating an initial workshop design from your context, using sources offered, and sharing and discussing it in the session.
This course complements the course on Facilitation for systems practice interventions, though they can be done independently or in any order.
Trainer
These courses are delivered by Benjamin P Taylor, an expert in systems, cybernetics, and complexity in service transformation.
Pricing Info
£250 +VAT
To enquire please go on this link: https://www.systemspractice.org/courses/ics3-workshop-design-05d
ICS2 Facilitation Skills for Systems Practice Interventions (0.5d)
This course provides learners with an understanding of the facilitation relationship in the context of systems intervention itself, and of the challenges it brings. It introduces a range of tools and practices for facilitation and provides guidance on workshop planning. Finally, it compares various approaches to facilitation, enabling learners to develop a stronger sense of the kind of facilitator they want to be.
Topics covered include:
- The facilitraining rainbow – where do you stand?
- Divergence, emergence, convergence;
- Differentiation and integration method;
- Adaptive change;
- Facilitation for ‘robust systems’;
- Session planning and session flow;
- The perceptual positions;
- Ground rules for workshops and ways into partnership;
- Maintaining your authenticity;
- Peter Block’s ‘six conversations that matter’;
- Chris Corrigan’s ‘seven little helpers’;
- Hosting and guiding and/or customer services;
- Context cues;
- History and three futures;
- Power tools and making concrete – Naming The Thing.
Trainer
These courses are delivered by Benjamin P Taylor, an expert in systems, cybernetics, and complexity in service transformation.
Pricing Info
£250 +VAT
To enquire please go on this link: https://www.systemspractice.org/courses/ics2-facilitation-skills-systems-practice-interventions-05d
ICS1b Consulting for Systems Practice Interventions – (b) Core (0.5d)
This course provides learners with a deeper understanding of:
- Discovery and research into the client system;
- Power questions, layers of analysis, and objectifying ‘the system’;
- Research and action-based approaches;
- Third-party and whole systems approaches;
- Maintaining the balance of responsibility for deep engagement;
- Structuring analysis and feedback, developing commitment;
- Choosing dirty or clean consulting.
To maximise your chances of being effective in achieving positive change, you should combine a sound understanding of systems approaches with well-developed intervention skills.
This in turn requires a clear conception of the role of the systems practitioner as ‘consultant’, of their relationships with stakeholders, especially the ‘client’, and the nature of the practitioner’s influence on the organisations they seek to transform.
Drawing on Flawless Consulting, Barry Oshry’s Organic Systems Framework, and more, Consulting for Systems Practice Interventions emphasises a collaborative approach and equal responsibility between the intervention practitioner and the client, navigating a path between the twin traps of ‘consultant as boss’ and ‘consultant as servant’.
These courses are relevant to anyone – consultant or not! – who is engaging in organisational change.
Trainer
These courses are delivered by Benjamin P Taylor, an expert in systems, cybernetics, and complexity in service transformation.
Pricing Info
£250 +VAT
To enquire please go on this link: https://www.systemspractice.org/courses/ics1b-consulting-systems-practice-interventions-b-core-05d
ICS1a Consulting for Systems Practice Interventions – (a) Foundation (0.5d)
This course will provide learners with key principles and a structure for interventions. Topics covered include:
- The five phases of the consultative process;
- ‘Techniques are not enough’: relationships in consulting;
- Dealing with ‘the space of service’;
- Setting up a clear ‘contract’ for interventions – including triangular and rectangular contracting;
- Authenticity and setting your assumptions;
- The client behind the client and the problem behind the problem;
To maximise your chances of being effective in achieving positive change, you should combine a sound understanding of systems approaches with well-developed intervention skills.
This in turn requires a clear conception of the role of the systems practitioner as ‘consultant’, of their relationships with stakeholders, especially the ‘client’, and the nature of the practitioner’s influence on the organisations they seek to transform.
Drawing on Flawless Consulting, Barry Oshry’s Organic Systems Framework, and more, Consulting for Systems Practice Interventions emphasises a collaborative approach and equal responsibility between the intervention practitioner and the client, navigating a path between the twin traps of ‘consultant as boss’ and ‘consultant as servant’.
These courses are relevant to anyone – consultant or not! – who is engaging in organisational change.
Trainer
These courses are delivered by Benjamin P Taylor, an expert in systems, cybernetics, and complexity in service transformation.
Pricing Info
£250 +VAT
To enquire please go on this link: https://www.systemspractice.org/courses/ics1a-consulting-systems-practice-interventions-foundation-05d
Link Collection:
My Weekly Blog post:
My journey begins with diving into my dad’s Sci-Fi collection at a tender age, immersing myself in worlds crafted by Saberhagen, Asimov, Heinlein, and others, alongside my mom’s intellectually stimulating reads. Star Wars added its spark to my imagination. School was a battleground where I stood as an outsider, finding solace in academic prowess and the mentorship of Mr. Davey, who fueled my love for mathematics. University life in Manchester coincided with the Madchester scene, but I found myself wandering in rain-soaked streets, absorbed in Del Amitri tunes. Oxford beckoned, but my gap year became a transformative experience in caregiving. This eclectic mix of experiences led me to delve into philosophy, politics, and economics, sparking a passion for organizational dynamics. Life’s twists, from joining a benign cult to familial upheavals, shaped my perspective. Today, the thrill of insight and the challenges of public service fuel my journey as a consultant, trainer, and facilitator, albeit with a hint of seasoned skepticism. What’s your pivotal influence?
How did you come to do what you do, thinking in the way you do?
Haley Fitzpatrick, Haley.Fitzpatrick@aho.no, Tobias Luthe, Birger Sevaldson
Haley Fitzpatrick, Tobias Luthe, and Birger Sevaldson explore methodological plurality and integrate quantitative scientific methods with participatory gigamapping and embodied practices. This longitudinal design inquiry engaged with communities undergoing sustainability transformations across three mountain regions: Ostana, Italy; Hemsedal, Norway; and Mammoth Lakes, California. The authors identify the need for contemplative and psychological practices in systemic design that focus on inner resilience.
VOLUME 2 | 2023–2024
https://doi.org/10.58279/v2000
© 2024 Author, published by the Systemic Design Association
Open Access article published under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International License
CITATION (APA)
Fitzpatrick, H., Luthe, T., & Sevaldson, B. (2024). Methodological Pluralism in Practice: A systemic design approach for place-based sustainability transformations. Contexts—The Systemic Design Journal, 2. https://doi.org/10.58279/v2003
Article Contents show
https://systemic-design.org/contexts/vol2/methodological-pluralism
Absurdity in Systems Thinking – Harish Jose
Future Fossils podcasts 218 – Neil Theise on Complexity & Nonduality
MICHAEL GARFIELD APR 02, 2024
I’m honored to share a profound and soulful conversation on science and spirituality with Neil Theise, professor of pathology at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, discoverer of a new human organ (the interstitium), lifelong Zen meditator, and author of the superb book, Notes on Complexity.
Future Fossils with Michael Garfield
🎋🔬🕸️ 218 – Neil Theise on Complexity & Nonduality
I’m honored to share a profound and soulful conversation on science and spirituality with Neil Theise, professor of pathology at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, discoverer of a new human organ (the interstitium), lifelong Zen meditator, and author of the superb book…
The Positive Deviance Approach – Baxter, Lawton (2022)
Ruth Baxter, Yorkshire Quality and Safety Research Group, Bradford Institute for Health Research, Rebecca Lawton, School of Psychology, University of Leeds
https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/positive-deviance-approach/506CA2D446210E1FE76740B7F835D87C
Ontology and Antidisciplinarity
Andrew PickeringIn Andrew Barry & Georgina Born (eds.)
Interdisciplinarity: Reconfigurations of the Social and Natural Sciences. Routledge. pp. 209 (2013)
Andrew Pickering, 9 Ontology and Antidisciplinarity – PhilPapers
https://philpapers.org/rec/PICOA
Revisiting Total Place: an approach to collaboration in local public services
The Tragedy of the Most Hated Bird in America — STORAGE ROOM No. 2
The Rise and Impending Fall of the Dental Cavity
The Rise and Impending Fall of the Dental Cavity
Cremieux Recueil · 1d The Rise and Impending Fall of the Dental Cavity By Cremieux
Investing in bereavement care as a public health priority https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/
This is hilarious. h/t @riskybusiness
Ultimately, of course, what we need is AI bots ‘trained’ to negotiate with hackers….
Ransomware gang’s new extortion trick? Calling the front desk | TechCrunch
The Agile Paradox: When Founders Fail Their Own Manifesto
Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Names | Kalzumeus Software
www.kalzumeus.com Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Names | Kalzumeus Software
The Positive Deviance Approach – Baxter, Lawton (2022)
Addiction, Motherhood, and Jesus with writer Anne Lamott — TED Radio Hour
overcast.fm Addiction, Motherhood, and Jesus with writer Anne Lamott — TED Radio Hour
Innu Cosmogony : Shaking Tent | Spirituality and Mythology | Culture | Nametau innu: Memory and knowledge of Nitassinan
Episode 367: High Weirding (Part 1)
Your Brain Is Not an Onion With a Tiny Reptile Inside – Joseph Cesario, David J. Johnson, Heather L. Eisthen, 2020 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/
FirstMark | 2024 MAD (ML/AI/Data) Landscape
Debunking three big myths about bike lanes | TVO Today
www.tvo.org TVO Today | Current Affairs Journalism, Documentaries and Podcasts
How tiger sharks wearing cameras revealed the world’s largest seagrass ecosystem
https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-new
USING A SYSTEMS THINKING APPROACH TO MANAGEMENT – A NECESSARY PARADIGM SHIFT? Halder (2024)
seems timely
IWMW 2013: Web Managers In A Double Bind https://bit.ly/3TBqWqG
FUTURE FOSSILS on Apple Podcasts
https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/future-fossils/id1152767505
Apple Podcasts FUTURE FOSSILS on Apple Podcasts Society & Culture · 2024
IR35 tax changes contribute to economic inactivity
Lean Blog Podcast (Mark Graban) with John Hunter – two of the greats! And lots of excellent links
Productivity puzzle corner: The Efficiency Wars redux
Reboot Podcast Episode Wisdom for Work #21 – Engaging Your Team to Bring Out Their Best – with Team Reboot
chosen path 