reflections on our systems learning journey

it was a few years back now when i started to try to put to the page the magic that is happening when we facilitate systems thinking… 

the first evolution was shared in a community of practice for systems thinking i led in my work with the australian prevention partnership centre, where we were wrestling with how to bring this work of systems thinking work into collaborative research partnerships.  that first pass had me focus on the roles we take up when we facilitate the space. 

with the opening of the systems school, and our very first in-person event on innovating systems thinking in pra...

a colleague once wrote me an email that asked, “Is the shift key on your keyboard broken? I notice you have not used capitals in your email?”

i have been writing in lowercase since my twenties, but in the last few months i have been asked about it more times than in the last 20 years.  i took notice, and paused to reflect again on why i do this. 

the case for lowercase. 

i first came across the use of lowercase by way of a friend who was reading bell hooks. seeing the front cover of her book, all about love, and her name in lower case, it just looked absolutely beautiful to me.  it was welc...

we’ve been having a wonderful time in our ‘systems practice’ course, and feeling so fortunate to have dana shen join us to integrate mindfulness into our systems practice.  

as we were meeting each week, i was noticing a signal emerging in the sessions, time and my relationship to it, seemed to be challenging me in a few different ways. this signal suggested an opportunity to slow down and engage with time a bit more purposefully. and so that is what we did. taking a side step to explore the many ways time is present in our systems work. we started with a question.

how are you in relation...

a metaphor for exploring systems leadership in the context of emergence rather than intervention 

by fiona mckenzie and seanna davidson

cross posted to fiona's medium and linkedin here and here

thank you to alice howard-vyse who helped kick off these conversations and our systems community for engaging in with the topic.

We subscribe to the school of thought that systems transformation requires the challenging of deeply held beliefs and the application of new ways of thinking. This includes paying attention to the myths and metaphors that provide powerful representations of thinking — old...

back in december, we ran a session within the community of practice, asking folks what they need to support their capacity to do systems thinking and change work. what emerged was a collection of peaks and valleys: the things that enable them to do systems work and the things that get in the way. 

it’s no secret that something special comes from seeing your own experience reflected back in that of someone else. recognising shared challenges and swapping notes on what we’ve found helpful calms our self-doubt and strengthens our resilience for systems work. it is in this spirit of growing toget...