Is professionalising systems practice the ultimate #futureofwork paradox? How do we embed #systemsthinking in institutions that seem designed to repel it? How can we sustainably continue to design contextually-relevant learning systems? How do we spread systemic insight through the mainstream without turning it into just another orthodoxy? Join the conversation on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/antlerboy_futureofwork-systemsthinking-systemicconsulting-activity-7383771010082164736-Kmr1
Professionalising systems practice felt like a paradox at this year’s SysPrac25 conference – perhaps the ultimate #futureofwork challenge – how do we embed #systemsthinking in institutions that seem designed to repel it?
Yet paradox was exactly the point: 160 of us (from policy wonks to engineers) swapped stories of being ‘systemic’ people inside our organisations – discussing the undiscussable one minute and blurring boundaries the next.
Ray Ison used his keynote to urge embedding ‘learning systems’ into the DNA of our organisations, making institutional learning part of how we work: how can we sustainably continue to design contextually-relevant learning systems?
Patrick Hoverstadt used the Viable System Model to show how leaders can still balance complexity in modern organisations.
Andy Wilkins captured this shift in mindset best: ‘from experts to connectors…from theory to story’.
We heard from apprentices on the Level 7 Systems Thinking Practitioner apprenticeship who in three years had gone from radical thinkers, experts, leaders – to radical thinkers, experts, and leaders with deep, solid systems practice skills and experience.
And I had a lot of fun at my #systemicconsulting workshop – I think the participants did, too.
This wasn’t a dry academic talking-shop – hands-on workshops with scribbled flipcharts in every corner proved that real #innovation in #leadership can come from people learning together in real time, not just another app.
I left energised by a sense that our community might be quietly coming of age – it felt to me like one of the most welcoming events I’ve been to for years, with a context where good challenge was welcomed, where ideas were really shared and debated.
How do we spread this systemic insight through the mainstream without turning it into just another orthodoxy?
chosen path 