I came across a report of the learnings from a convening of system change agents. It was a wonderful read about the lived experiences of people trying to affect change in complex human systems. There is a link to the report at the end of this article.
One quote stood out for me: “dismantle the conditions that have locked in a particular thing that we don’t like…”. See the blocking conditions and design a response to dismantle them.
When I read this a lot of pieces of the puzzle about system thinking and design in complex systems fell into place for me that I have been unravelling for the last few years.
When I read this I know now why;
I advocate system maps for a team to have a shared understanding of a complex system and for them to be able 'locate' these blocking conditions.
I talk about tracing back to root cause from superficial flaws - or conditions as I now call them.
I ask people to zoom into the lived human experience and the drivers of human behaviours that are invariably part of some of the blocking conditions.
I share multiple types of responses so the response can be matched the root cause of the condition - preferably at leverage points.
I stress the importance of system probes or experiments as a learning tool.
I talk about engaging diverse perspectives and engaging with the reality of the system
Plus many more things.
Hopefully, this little narrative has unlocked a few things for you too. I don't think design in complex systems is hard - it's mostly a state of mind and careful project design.
If you want to dive into these things a little more, come and join us at one of our masterclasses. We've put nearly 100 people through one since we did the first several years ago.
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