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"Our Mission: to bring economic, social and environmental systems into closer harmony with the realities of a finite planet and a globally powerful human race by using the disciplines of systems thinking, system dynamics, and collaborative learning that were pioneered by our founder, Donella Meadows."

When creating new services for clients, we very often don't delve deep enough into the organisation that delivers the service. Service solutions are often limited to pragmatic improvements that lie directly in the customer experience, what many consider 'the art of the possible'. But by combining classic service design and user journey mapping techniques with notation from Systems Thinking, we can go deeper into understanding WTF's really going on inside our organisations.

"We activists need to become better "reflectivists", taking the time to understand the system before (and while) engaging with it. We need to better understand the stop-start rhythm of change exhibited by complex systems and adapt our efforts accordingly. And we need to become less arrogant, more willing to learn from accidents, from failures, and from other people. Finally, we have to make friends with ambiguity and uncertainty, while maintaining the energy and determination so essential to changing the world."

Two threads run through the story of how I came to develop the field of system dynamics. First, everything I have ever done has converged on system dynamics. Second, at many critical moments, when opportunity knocked, I was willing to walk through the open door to what was on the other side.

The failure of many of the systems that underpin modern life is increasingly difficult to avoid, so it's not surprising that interest in 'systems innovation' is growing fast. At the Point People, we've seen pioneers emerging in this field from different sectors, leading very different kinds of organisations and speaking very different professional languages. We had a hunch that these frontrunners could tell a compelling story about what systemic innovation looks and feels like in practice. So we put them in front of a camera and asked them a handful of questions.

What is Systems Change? Systems change is the emergence of a new pattern of organization or systems structure. (Birney, 2015) It is both a process and an outcome. We are facing unprecedented economic, social, and environmental crises, and current reforms offer ineffective solutions. Naomi Klein has called for a movement of change that "connects the dots" to address the root causes of all current crises facing people and planet.

but we sensed the outcome could easily become a 'touchpoint solution' that might address a particular facet of trauma, but wouldn't take into account the deeper reasons why these problems existed," Seth explained.

The Thinking Tools Studio is brought to you by the Waters Center for Systems Thinking. We are committed to delivering benefits to users through engaging, innovative and applicable content free of charge and full of learning.

The Schumacher Institute is a think tank. We believe that our planet faces complex social, economic and environmental crises that are hard to solve, however, we are optimistic that solutions can be found. We apply systems thinking to explore and test sustainable options, which acknowledge the complexity of our world. We see social justice as integral to sustainability and look for answers that are fair to all, within the limits the Earth can sustain.

We do not claim expertise in any specific business area. Rather we work to bring to the table our deep systems expertise (concepts and tools); our clients bring deep understanding of their environment; together we find a heightened level of perception and new ways to think about issues. The result is often amazing in terms of results and accomplishments.

"The Habits of a Systems Thinker help learners understand how systems work and how actions taken can impact results seen over time. They encompass a spectrum of strategies that foster problem-solving and encourage questioning. The Thinking Tools Studio contains a course for each of the Habits. "

ReThink Health believes that by thinking differently and working together, we can remake our troubled health system into one that is centered on the well-being and productivity of our people, the vibrancy of our communities, and the prosperity of our nation. This includes the delivery of optimal, affordable, and accessible care. We also believe that the most promising way forward will spring from creative, concerted, and collaborative efforts in regions across the country, where residents and other system stakeholders dare to find and fulfill their shared aspirations.

We live in a world relentlessly pushed forward by the velocity, volatility, uncertainty, disruption, and disequilibrium of constant change.  As the pace of change accelerates, so does the shelf-life of our strategies, processes, frameworks, and systems.  The rapidity of change now requires an expanding and continuously evolving breadth and depth to our repertoire of problem-solving strategies and leadership skill-sets.  Yet, even in the face of this rapidity of change and the disequilibrium it creates, too often, we find ourselves as individuals and organizations siloed in and dedicated to only one way of doing and working.  

Overview System Dynamics is a computer-aided approach to policy analysis and design.  It applies to dynamic problems arising in complex social, managerial, economic, or ecological systems-literally any dynamic systems characterized by interdependence, mutual interaction, information feedback, and circular causality.

Based in Fuzzy-logic Cognitive Mapping (FCM), users can easily develop semi-quantitative models of environmental issues, social concerns or social-ecological systems in Mental Modeler by:  Defining the important components of a system  Defining the relationships between these components  Running "what if" scenarios to determine how the system might react under a range of possible changes.

OK, this post is already way too long, but one final thing. Physicists, I think, become even more drawn to economics when we look into economics and see broad resistance to research pursuing this "complexity" perspective. It seems instead that most of mainstream research tries to get around system complexity with mathematical tricks, rather than facing up to it. I'm thinking about ideas like representative agents, or rational expectations. The assumptions make it possible to build models without having to deal with the complexity of interactions and the emergent structures they create; but the resulting models, naturally, look very pale and questionable as models of anything real. When physicists see that a small minority of ("heterodox") economists also find the standard approach hugely limiting, they feel an urge to help out. And they believe that some of their ideas can help.

"About Donella Meadows founded our Institute in 1996 to apply systems thinking and organizational learning to economic, environmental and social challenges. Mission Shift mindsets - values, attitudes, and beliefs - when they are out of step with the realities of a finite planet and a globally powerful human race. Restructure systems when the rewards and incentives of the system are inconsistent with long term social, environmental, and economic goals. Build the capability to manage and learn in complex environmental, social, and economic systems."

Systems Changes is a collaborative open research program, initiated from Toronto, Canada. A call for participation was launched in January 2019 at the monthly Systems Thinking Ontario meeting. The web site was will evolve as contributions and knowledge are added.

Learn more about the system dynamics lab at Washington University in St. Louis. We are experts in developing simulation models of problems facing complex social systems. A resource for students, professionals, and researchers, we help build the capacity of those who want to learn and apply system dynamics in order to understand and address specific problems within an organization and community. Our Research Our research includes a focus on understanding the role of social determinants at the community level, identifying strategies for reducing disparities, and informing implementation, scale-up and sustainability of evidence based interventions. Application areas include community responses to intimate partner violence, mental health, natural resources, obesity, cancer, child and maternal health, financial inclusion, K-12 education, and juvenile/criminal justice. Community Engagement We are actively involved in advancing participatory group model building (GMB) methods in diverse communities including both international and domestic settings. Teaching We are invested in building capacity in system dynamics among the next generation of researchers, policy makers, and social innovators. The lab offers a sequence of graduate level courses that prepare students to tackle dynamic social problems with innovative, design-driven, transdisciplinary solutions.

This eTextbook contains the system-scientific contents taught at the Institute of Systems Sciences, Innovation and Sustainability Research (SIS) at the University of Graz