Appreciating Systems

SystemsWiki is a great web site for those that want to learn more about Systems Thinking. It relies heavily on the LinkedIn group Systems Thinking World (which I invite you to join if you’re so inclined). The group’s description is the following:

We believe a systemic perspective provides the best foundation for creating effective approaches for dealing with situations and shaping a better tomorrow. Our purpose is to create content which furthers understanding of the value of a systemic perspective and enables thinking and acting systemically.

Now, after some free webinars, SystemsWiki releases the training videos on Youtube. Check them out!

Please help yourself: quick (around 4 minutes) and right to the point!

Solution Focus introduction par Mark McKergow, co-author of “The solution focus” book.

Also, I can’t help but recommend the book Mark co-authored, as it is a real pleasure to read: Solution Focus in its most elegant and simple apparel: The Solution Focus.

Here’s a video I wanted to see from quite some time ago.

That’s very interesting and mixes the Cynefin framework (from Dave Snowden) with the Adaptive Change Cycle (Resilience Alliance) which I didn’t know about.

Noah Raford » Adapting Snowden’s Cynefin Framework to Encompass Systemic Organisational Change.

I don’t know what I’m going to do with this, but I’ll investigate the Resilience Alliance and their model of change a bit more, for sure!

There’s a french-speaking Yahoo group on Lean discussions (here) where Michel Baudin (LinkedIn profile) posted two links to some archived videos of motion analysis and improvement by the Gilbreth (Wikipedia pages: Lillian and Frank):

• first video
• second video

Have a look at the Wikipedia pages above, there’s some material linked!

This is very interesting!

Go check this empowering video available here (and maybe the corresponding book also).

Simon greatly explains that people don’t buy what you do or how you do it, but why you do it.  He also explains that you need to have this in mind in order to cross the chasm to get the vast majority of your niche buy your product.

For those that like videos, here is a 6 minutes video about a very recent book regarding Solution Focus: About The Book “Fry The Monkeys Create A Solution“.

The video is a light introduction to the world of Solution Focus and answers the most common questions about it (whether it is about problem phobia for instance).

I have not read it (yet?). What I did read is “Solutions Focus: Making Coaching and Change S.I.M.P.L.E.” which is a great book targeted to a wide range of audiences, from consultants to managers and coaches in differing contexts (individual to small teams to bigger systems, though it is acknowledged that Appreciative Inquiry may be more suited for that purpose). The S.I.M.P.L.E. principles at the heart of Solution Focus are explained as well as the easy tools and the OSKAR coaching framework that can be used for, well, coaching using SF.

Reading through the Systems Thinking World LinkedIn Group, Gene Bellinger (SystemsWiki owner and group owner) posted the link below to a video of Donella Meadows talking about Vision.

Meadows is a renowned systems thinker whose main work is the “Limits to Growth” book about how our continuing use of non renewable resources will bring a brutal stop to our growth.

In the video posted (http://www.uvm.edu/giee/beyondenvironmentalism/Meadows.mov), Meadows talks about the very importance of always having a vision in mind before trying to do something and how this helped her discover things that she thought she wouldn’t have otherwise. Read more »