Category: Articles
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Transforming the Systems Movement
The situation the world is in is a mess. This hardly requires documentation; it’s obvious. Furthermore, as Leslie Gelb observed in his article “Fresh…
Rethinking Leadership in the Learning Organization
How many times have we heard statements like these and simply accepted them as “the way things are?” CEOs and other top executives talk…
The Ladder of Inference
How we act depends on how we understand the situation we are in. Our understandings often seem obvious to us, as if they were…
Integrating Systems Thinking and Design Thinking
As readers of this newsletter are aware, systems thinking is evolving as an alternative to the old paradigms. Richard Mattessich wrote that “systems thinking…
Making the Jump to Systems Thinking
When Albert Einstein began to play with the theory of quantum physics, he didn’t like it. He spent a few years trying to disprove…
Building Organizational Learning Infrastructures
The systems and structures that have served our organizations well throughout the Machine Age are no longer adequate to meet the demands of the…
Habits of Mind: Strategies for Disciplined Choice Making
B definition, a problem is any stimulus, question, task, phenomenon, or discrepancy for which we don’t immediately have an answer or solution. We are…
We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This: Developing the Capacity for Cross-Sector Collaboration
About a year ago, I participated in a climate change event in Johannesburg, South Africa. In the room were one of the lead negotiators…
Strategic Questions: Engaging People’s Best Thinking
Stop asking so many questions,” many children hear at home. “Don’t give me the question, give me the answer,” many students hear at school.
The Systems Orientation: From Curiosity to Courage
Systems thinking is different from most other problem-solving tools because it takes into account the fact that we are a part of the system…