systems thinking practitioner

Who are you? Tales from ‘Crossing the Bridge’ and the ‘Creating the Conditions©’ series of systems thinking approaches.

/ Pauline Roberts / 1 Comment

It’s a strange phenomenon – the erosion of the individual and their unique thinking and style. I stand back and watch it with sadness in the arena of systems thinking. There are two ways I see this happening:

The first happens when a really enthusiastic and forward thinking systems thinker does not have faith or confidence in their own style and approach. I watch them as they grow at first. They have original thoughts. They are excited and committed to their own learning. They move forwards leaps and bounds beyond anything that’s currently out there. But then, it happens! Because they are starting to get ahead of the game, they stand alone. I watch as they migrate towards the crowd, seeking connection, ratification or a platform for their voice. They are sucked in by those who understand the game – the need for recognition and/ or even prestige. They wait like praying animals for the unsuspecting practitioner walk their way. They nurture them into their fold, secretly feeding off them at the same time. What I see outwardly is the once vibrant, enthusiastic and insightful practitioner melting into the shadows. Their narrative becomes nothing more than the rhetoric of the group. Their originality melts into a big, soppy puddle. They lose themselves. Their social media posts become less inspiring, their original thinking is eroded and they are lost to a space of the average, the mediocre, the ordinary. A brilliant practitioner lost to the crowd. I can name at least three instances over the last couple of years where someone I know could have been and would have been brilliant if they had followed their own course. They are now gobbled up by the gang, following those who they perceive will give them prestige by association, their original thinking now nothing but a distant memory.

The second is related to those who wish to have prestige in the arena of systems thinking or think that because of their job/ position they should have original and inspiring thinking. The trouble is that you cannot force originality or creativity. It tends to be something deep inside of us waiting to be unlocked. These people (I will say people because more often than not, they are not practitioners, have no experience or qualification but like to try and take a short cut to recognition) feed off others’ thinking, re-hash it, then use their gang to spread the word. What is sad is that in following everyone else, they never really ‘Create the Conditions©’ for their own creativity to emerge. It is just a reworked version of someone else. Of course, all of our practice builds on those who come before us, but pure regurgitation suggests a lack of authenticity. I often wonder why they don’t trust themselves enough to embrace that which might enable them to be receptive to their own learning. Is the race to ‘win’ too intoxicating?

My suggestion to newer practitioners in the field is to trust yourself. Step into your own creativity. Feel it, live it and let it blossom. Do not melt into the background just to fit in. No-one is going to tell you when your thinking is way beyond what they could conceive, so don’t expect pats on the back if you are doing well. You might sit in a lonely place because no-one understands you but I say ‘go with it’. Trust your journey and don’t let those who could not walk your journey stand in your way.

‘Creating the Conditions©’ for your creativity to emerge.

Systems thinking practitioners – who are they?

/ Pauline Roberts / 4 Comments

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvsoS5Paduk

I’ve been liaising with a number of systems thinking practitioners lately who are new to the field or may still be going through their training. Many are keen to know what it’s really like to be a systems thinking practitioner. It isn’t a well-known profession, although there have been systems thinkers in existence probably for the whole of history. It isn’t a well-known profession because in the past it hasn’t been classed as a profession. Putting the debate about whether or not it should be a profession to one side (I will leave that for another day) I can tell about the context of my work and that of other practitioners I know.

Firstly, I should say that the definition and context of our work is very wide and varied. We might be someone who works in an organisation, doesn’t have ‘systems thinking practitioner’ in their official title but uses systems thinking in their work and has embedded systems thinking habits into their own way of being. We might be a scholar, someone with or working towards a Doctorate, who studies and/ or practices systems thinking. We might be an academic who teaches systems thinking. We might be one of the few who have a job title that states ‘systems thinking practitioner’. We might be someone working on systems change who clearly works in a systems thinking informed way but doesn’t hold a formal title of systems thinking practitioner. We might be a consultant who has a qualification in systems thinking. We might be a bit of all of these things. Generally, though, a systems thinking practitioner, who works professionally as such, is both qualified (often to postgraduate level) and experienced in the field.

And how do we carry out or work? Well, this too is very wide and varied. I’ve heard a lot of systems thinking practitioners in training or those aspiring to be systems thinking practitioners in the future believe that we’re given special projects to do. That they’re labelled as systems thinking, have a beginning and end and we are given the time and space to enact them as we see fit. This might be true sometimes but generally, the reality can be quite different. This is especially the case if we work as an employee in an organisation and we don’t have ‘systems thinking’ in the title of our job (and most people don’t).  The reality is that we might work on several overlapping projects or programmes at the same time. We might be quickly moved around from project to project. We might start something and never get to finish it because the context has changed or because the actual change takes many years. We might be moved from department to department, from site to site from organisation to organisation. Just because you don’t have a separate systems thinking project, with a flag sticking in the top of it saying ‘systems thinking’, it doesn’t mean you’re not a systems thinking practitioner. I have tutored hundreds of people who have gained the MSc in systems thinking in practice who are now systems thinking practitioners but who have never had ‘systems thinking’ or ‘systems thinker’ in their official work title.

Usually a practitioner’s work is messy, boundaries change. We’re pulled in many different directions and at the same time. We might have to contend with a very frantic day to day operational management situation or a situation of high risk or anything where we have to give focused and targeted attention to something.  Our systems thinking comes into play if and when the time is right. Then, we might take one bit of one approach, apply it, swiftly move on, apply something else. That’s part of our skill – to know what’s useful and when.

We might have to compromise around how we use our systems thinking to flex to the developing situation. Our practice is all different and might play out in very different ways. Of course, some people are asked to do specific systems thinking orientated projects or pieces of work but in my experience these happen far less frequently than the day-to-day application of systems thinking in an organisation that you might do as part of any job.

Remember, systems thinking is not an exclusive club. Anyone trying to make it such a thing are probably working towards their own self-promoting goals.  Yes, there are qualifications that can give you the validation of your practice and these should be considered when hiring a systems thinking practitioner for a specific professional role. However, systems thinking is for everyone. It is a way of thinking that can be adopted by anyone who has the curiosity and determination to consider another way of thinking about complex situations.

Don’t be put off if you don’t have a specific ‘systems thinking’ titled project or piece of work. If you have the qualification and you can put systems thinking into practice, then you are in the same place as a lot of other practitioners. They key thing is to make it count. Apply systems thinking well and make a difference.

…and never give up.

What value can a systems thinking practitioner bring to your workplace?

/ Pauline Roberts / Leave a comment

Provided that the systems thinking practitioner has been appropriately trained and/ or educated in the field and has a degree of experiential learning, the value they bring to your workplace can be significant.

That value can be threefold

  1. Value in helping you move towards your goal. They get stuff done.
  2. Value generated in the way the systems thinking practitioner works with you. Their perspective and ways of thinking can open up value you never expected and take you to places you never contemplated.
  3. Value for each individual and value generated in the relationships that are formed. Their thinking, the framings they use and the perspective they engage with generates value for them and for you. It also generates value in forming relationships as they reveal their authentic selves and encourage others to do the same.

Part of that value is in supporting you to achieve triple loop learning, ensuring that you consider efficacy, efficiency and effectiveness.

Single loop learning

Single loop learning is linked to efficacy and efficiency – this is where they help you to get things done. But, how do you know you are doing the right things?

Double loop learning

Double loop learning is linked to effectiveness. Systems thinking practitioners have a keen focus on effectiveness, so that you are not just achieving something, you have a greater chance of achieving the right thing. Systems thinking practitioners, however, go even further than this.

Triple loop learning

They help you to enter into triple loop learning. They are skilled in considering why you believe it to be the right thing. They question motivations, judgements and legitimacy and bring in a variety of perspectives to challenge mindsets, framings and decision making.

Despite popular belief, systems thinking practitioners are not all business consultants with fancy approaches and buzz words for you to jump on board with. Many are members of staff, working in organisations, often going largely unrecognised.

Systems thinking is a way of thinking about situations. It is the way of thinking that generates the value.