Category: Articles

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Learning From Everyday Conflict

Recently the president of a large professional services organization brought in an external consultant to mediate a conflict between two vice presidents. The relationship…

How Learning Works

Recently, I had a long conversation with my fifteen-year-old daughter, Elise, about why she had to learn algebra. I had helped her with a…

Working in an Unhappy Place: Reengaging Disaffected Employees Through Conflict Resolution

Why can’t we all just get along?” asked Rodney King famously, echoing the sentiments of many of us who have at some point or…

The Nature and Creation of Chaordic Organizations

We are living on the knife’s edge of one of those rare and momentous turning points in human history. Liveable lives for our grandchildren,…

The New Facts of Life: Connecting the Dots on Food, Health, and the Environment

A discussion of the interrelations between food, health, and the environment is extremely topical today. Rising food prices together with the price of oil…

It’s Not a Behavioral Problem: It’s the System

Don’t ask systems thinkers for advice on managing performance or staff engagement. They will probably say something pretty fruity, and you’ll wind up frustrated…

A Lifetime of Systems Thinking

When one reaches 80, one is considered to be ripe and ready for picking. Picking usually consists of the pickers asking the pickee to…

The “Thinking” in Systems Thinking: Honing Your Skills

Why is it so challenging to develop systems thinking ability? It’s because thinking systemically involves a rather large number of different skills—seven, at least—that…

The Inner Game of Work: Building Capability in the Workplace

“What would be more interesting to you,” I ask an audience of executives, “engaging in a dialogue on learning how to coach or one…

Six Steps to Thinking Systemically

Bijou Bottling Company is a fictitous beverage bottler with an all too real problem: chronic late shipments. Its customers—major chain retailers—are looking for orders…