On my May trip through the UK, I accepted an offer to lead an Expert-Led Session at the University of Hull. I had previously been a Research Fellow of the Centre for Systems Studies, but haven’t travelled to the Hull for some years. As we worked out the arrangements, I found out that the seminar wasn’t just an hour lecture, but a complete afternoon.
The Systems Changes Learning Circle is now in year 6 of an espoused 10-year journey. The target audience of graduate students and faculty, with the luxury of time for lecturing and discussing, allowed for an extended exposition of our learning on systems changes. The ouline covered:
- A. Initiating
- B. Philosophizing
- C. Theorizing
- D. Practising
- E. Continuing
This series of 4 recordings is available as a playlist on Youtube. We started off mostly with reviewing slides, and then had progressed to more interactive discussion later in the day. With the audio recordings, the presentation slides (including movies) were resynchronized as post-production.
This presentation segments are downloadable from this website, as well as from the Internet Archive .
| Video | May 13, 2024 — H.264 MP4 |
| Part 1 (58m02s) |
[20240513_1231_UHull_Ing ResequencingSystemsThinking_Part1of4_1203kpbs.m4v] (HD 1203kbps 573MB) [on the Internet Archive]
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| Part 2 (27m58s) |
[20240513_1350_UHull_Ing ResequencingSystemsThinking_Part2of4_0968kbps.m4v] (HD 968kbps 228MB) [on the Internet Archive]
|
| Part 3 (48m16s) |
[20240513_1441_UHull_Ing ResequencingSystemsThinking_Part3of4_1096kpbs.m4v] (HD 1096kbps 438MB) [on the Internet Archive]
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| Part 4 (29m38s) |
[20240513_1548_UHull_Ing ResequencingSystemsThinking_Part4of4_1277kbps.m4v] (HD 1277kbps 307MB) [on the Internet Archive]
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In the June newsletter on Systems Prospects from the Centre for Systems Studies, PhD Student Gemma Smith contributed a relfection on the session:
Contribution from the CSS PhD community
On the 13th of May 2024, I had the pleasure of attending the CSS expert led session by David Ing, titled: Resequencing Systems Thinking: Practising, Theorizing and Philosophizing as Systems Changes Learning. I thoroughly enjoyed the session, which provided a challenging yet interesting perspective on systems thinking. It expanded my understanding by introducing new concepts and challenging my initial views. The session was broken down in to exploring the Philosophy of the contrast between organicism and contextualism. We built upon this with the theory surrounding rhythm in behaviour and time, and concluded with the practical application of how these principles could be applied to the conflict between a bias for action and doing no harm.
Here are a few of my key takeaways regarding the concepts of the dualities in Systems Thinking, Dyadic behaviours, and reflective inquiry. The emphasis on dualities was encapsulated by the concept that “there is no singular.” This was reinforced through learning about yin and yang, demonstrating how these dualities are essential for understanding and managing systems and how these contrasts between eastern holism and western philosophies. Exploring dyadic behaviour and rhythms highlighted their importance in systems to me, emphasising the role of time and rhythms. I found the discussion on how reordering pace can reveal the ‘right’ moments for intervention within a system insightful. During the session, we explored the concepts of rhythms and dyadic behaviours, gaining a new perspective on networks as connected points in time. This was described as a “meshwork of entangled lines, trails of wayfaring along which lives are lived.” Reflective inquiry was evident throughout the session; this involves questioning established norms and seeking different solutions that are contextually relevant and dynamically adaptable. Within our table, we discussed the notion of bias to act within a situation, for example if a consultant is hired to solve a problem, a solution of do nothing or wait, is unlikely to be welcomed in a fast paced, business driven environment. A quote relating to reflective inquiry which stuck with me from this session was:
“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” – Heraclitus
This reinforced for me that the learning process of experience is central in adaptive management and how this is a core fundamental in within taking a systems approach to tackling an issue.
I am thankful to have attended as this session provided great insights and just like in the metaphor where systems are weaves of thread; this meeting of people within the session, the facilitation and presentation by David Ing, and the meaningful conversations, was a meeting of threads which was beneficial to my learning journey in systems thinking. This was a whistle stop tour of my takeaways as a participant, if you would like to explore these topics further see here:
The coevolve website: https://coevolving.com/commons/
The presentation and session information: https://coevolving.com/commons/2024-05-resequencing-systems-thinking
Gemma Smith
PhD student, The Centre for Systems Studies
Here is the original session description that was sent in advance.
Since 2017, the term “systems change” has emerged in publications of the OECD, United Nations Development Program, and the Social Innovation Exchange. Does this represent a minor variation on systems approaches from the 20th century, or is it a call for a dramatic rethinking ?
“Rethinking Systems Thinking” was the theme of the 2012 meeting of the International Society for the Systems Sciences. In 2019, the Systems Changes Learning Circle was founded in Toronto, Canada, on an espoused 10-year journey to explore that rethinking. Action learning on methods has involved pilot workshops from 2022, three published journal articles, and another manuscript in final review for 2024.
The rise of interest in systems changes has provoked inquiry into whether systems approaches might be resequenced. An aligning of systems practices, systems theories, and philosophies of science enables rigorous grounding for authentic systems thinking.
Motivated towards developing practices associated with systems changes, sequencing matters. Practising systems changes places when+where ahead of what+why. Theorizing systems changes centers on shifting rhythms, reweaving (con)textures, and repacing propensities. Philosophizing systems changes enters metaphilosophy for a postcolonial science that sweeps in Classical Chinese foundations in yinyang and daojia.
This expert-led session will be in segmented into iterations of presentation, group discussion, and collective reflection.
Session participants will learn about ways that Systems Changes Learning approach is evolving, and the turn towards explaining and mentoring in the latter 5 years of the journey .
Slides are posted at https://coevolving.com/commons/2024-05-resequencing-systems-thinking
