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Systems Thinking Course Aims at Developing Managerial Competency

The Systems Thinking Competency Course (STCC) project at the MIT Sloan School of Management is exploring how systems thinking can be translated into the workplace.

Anatomy of a Reinforcing Loop

Feedback loops can be thought of as closed loops of interconnection; basically, sequences of mutual causes and effects. The links between each variable show…

Check-in Check-out

Your daughter was sick last night and you didn’t get much sleep. Tony’s car was rear-ended on the way to the office. Vivian has…

Conversation as a Core Business Process

Take a moment to put on a new set of glasses. Change your perspective. Consider, for a moment, that the most widespread and pervasive…

From Mechanistic to Social Systemic Thinking

Each of us has a theory of reality, a concept of the nature of the world which is referred to as our worldview. Our…

Connecting Systems Thinking and Action

Everything is connected. A child randomly kicks the elephant on the mobile hanging over her crib, and the other members of the aerial zoo…

Communities of Practice: Learning as a Social System

You are a claims processor working for a large insurance company. You are good at what you do, but although you know where your…

Productive Conversations: Using Advocacy and Inquiry Effectively

We can gain leverage for improving conversations by paying attention to advocacy and inquiry. Advocacy is stating one’s views. Describing what I think, disclosing…

Hexagons: From Ideas to Variables

System thinking tools, such as causal loop diagrams, foster high-quality thinking, communication, and decision-making in teams. But plunging into the realm of complex, dynamic…

Revitalizing the Schools: A Systems Thinking Approach

Fortune magazine recently labeled the U.S. school system “our most endangered institution,” highlighting a growing national concern about the quality of education in America. Steadily…