Why is it that new organizations start up with great enthusiasm, achieve success in the marketplace, and, just when everything seems to be going…

There is no easy or straightforward or guaranteed way to transform complex social systems. My own experience of 20 years of working with transformative…

On the evening of February 27, 2008, the town of Reading, Massachusetts (population 23,708) held its first World Café conversation. The event, open to…

The chief information officer (CIO) of the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, a research hospital with a large outpatient facility, faced a formidable…

Conflict stories are our most interesting stories. When you see two people deeply engaged in conversation, chances are that one of them is telling…

Truth is a tricky subject in any context. People rightly ask, what is the truth? How do we know? Are we really talking about…

A growing awareness that humankind is facing unprecedented challenges is making many of us uneasy. Our unease stems from an increasing sense that humanity’s…

In 1988, the first systems thinking classes were started at Orange Grove Middle School in Tucson, Arizona, instigated by Frank Draper, a science teacher,…

All around the world, people are stepping forward in new ways to provide leadership. In many cases, they are not the people in positions…

At first blush, systems thinking may seem like something we can apply by ourselves. While that may be possible for simple dynamics, a systems…