Sector: Government
Showing 10 of 72 results (by popularity)
Bringing “Background Analysis” to Foreground of Energy Policy
In this article, Donella Meadows shows how computer models — products of structural thinking — can help bring clarity to a complex issue. As she…
Adjusting to the Collapse of a Bank
About half the people I met in Oklahoma had personally experienced a bank failure over the past year or so. On Thursday, January 8 of…
The Case for Systemwide Learning
In his book Synchronicity, Joseph Jaworski describes two scenarios developed by Shell in the early 1990s. “New Frontiers” depicts a world where “rich and…
Minding the Gap: Social Learning for Turning Ideals into Actions
Humans have been both fascinated and tortured by questions regarding our fate and future for at least as long as we have possessed the…
The Trouble with Incentives: They Work
Years ago, my friend and colleague, David Chambers, told me a story about a consulting visit he and W. Edwards Deming made to a…
From Me to We: The Five Transformational Commitments Required to Rescue the Planet, Your Organization, and Your Life
Economic breakdown, rising unemployment, and escalating political hostility, coming at a time of intensifying climate upheaval – storms, floods, heat waves, and droughts –…
The Art of Foresight: Preparing for a Changing World
Foresight is the secret ingredient of success, because without foresight we cannot prepare for the future. Effective foresight has always been important in human…
The End of Economic Expansion Requires Compression Thinking
The term “Compression” refers to the end of economic expansion as we currently know it, that is, ongoing growth enabled by the practices of…
Both the Parts and Whole: Leadership and Systems Thinking
Leaders operate in the realm of bewildering uncertainty and staggering complexity. Today’s problems are rarely simple and clear-cut. If they were, they would likely…
Pea Beans in Ethiopia: Challenges of Creating New Business Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
Ethiopia is a wonderfully unusual place in Africa. It has never been colonized, only occupied by the Italians during World War II for about…