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Like the wind
Standing on a vast expanse of coastline with no other people around is one of the most liberating feelings I know. It is made even more special by the feeling of the wind. There is nothing quite like the wind from the across the sea. It is fresh and clear and makes me feel alive.…
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Who are you? Tales from ‘Crossing the Bridge’ and the ‘Creating the Conditions©’ series of systems thinking approaches.
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…
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Set your creativity free
Visionary thinking and creative insight does not always come from being an academic. I have spoken and written many times about the creativity and insight of those applying systems thinking in their everyday work. They generally aren’t sat at computers writing journal articles, paying for them to be published or going through grueling peer review…
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Asserting boundaries
It’s interesting, isn’t it, the way people react to you asserting boundaries in your work? I don’t know about you but whenever I assert a boundary, people think I’m going crazy. I’m not. I’m just letting you know that you cannot manipulate my purpose to serve you instead of serving me. Boundaries are absolutely essential…
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The introverted systems thinker
It’s Sunday morning and I’m in my favourite place – my office. It’s warm and cosy. I’m surrounded by personal artefacts that have great meaning. I have plants and ambient lighting. I have a window and I can see trees and bushes and I can hear the birds on my roof. I have my books…
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Systems thinking practitioners – who are they?
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…
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Get rid of the ‘one to one’
This afternoon, I have been inspired by this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=No8XWKx-gQg&t=3s It came to my attention through a LinkedIn post by Laksh Raghavan, who I know to be an excellent systems thinker and humble person giving high quality service to his clients. The link to his LinkedIn post in here and I recommend engaging with it:…
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Customer disservice
A loss of money, being sold a service that could never be provided, rising costs without agreement, delaying and deflection tactics. This is just a small selection of customer service horrors that I have faced this year so far. I am sure we have all experienced poor customer service at some time or another. Sadly,…
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The joy of creating
Whilst I am in the midst of family bereavement at the moment, I have also managed to embrace an exciting and invigorating week that has reawakened in me the joy of creating. Creating insight expressed in writing. Creating new and different ways of looking at things, of putting them together and making them useful. Creating…
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We can educate and train but can we employ systems thinkers?
Over the last couple of months I have had a series of discussions with several students about their future as they move forwards with their systems practice. They are keen and eager to step forward in the world as systems thinking practitioners. There is only one problem……where do they get employment or how do they…
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What value can a systems thinking practitioner bring to your workplace?
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 Part of that value is in supporting you to achieve triple loop learning, ensuring that you consider…
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Reflecting on being an evaluator
This year I have completed a three year evaluation of a community organising project. It was an interesting journey where I took a developmental evaluation approach with systems thinking. Part of my considerations was to create effective conditions for the evaluation to be successful. My role was not as a first order, objective, dispassionate observer.…
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Video links for ‘Crossing the Bridge’
Welcome to ‘Crossing the Bridge’ – a systems thinking practitioner’s learning journey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKRW37rGbUc A human touch online: https://youtu.be/PxHyVPKyH8I Who are the systems thinkers in systems change work: https://youtu.be/Q96XeUipNX0 Love and social connection in systems change: https://youtu.be/RA_x33jvBOE Hidden gems: https://youtu.be/HPkCgfCg2qo Power struggles in systems change: https://youtu.be/TOlocZo6U7Y Insights from a systems thinking approach: https://youtu.be/sXnsqu95PqY On first introduction…
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Starting out on our learning journey
‘When I first set out on my journey to apply systems thinking in my work situations, many around me did not know where I was going with it or what I would do with it. Indeed, neither did I. They tirelessly walked alongside me anyway. Some of them have been with me for years, giving…
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Welcome!
Welcome to the ‘Crossing the Bridge’ website. In the upcoming blog posts I will be sharing with you extracts from my book Crossing the Bridge. I will share the experiences I had on my learning journey into systems thinking and Creating the Conditions for Change©.
Crossing the Bridge
Crossing the Bridge 