SYSTEMS


Donella Meadows (2008). Thinking in systems.


anything and everything can be modeled as a system(s)...a set of interconnected ideas/things with properties that guide its purposeful behavior...finding the lever(s) in a system is the key to changing a system...we do well to remember that systems are our creations, maps of reality, helpful for describing and understanding the interconnectedness of life.


before we intervene in a system, we should inquire about the history of the system...study the beat of the system by plotting the behavior of the system over time, listen to what is working well and what is wrong, keep language concrete, meaningful, truthful, discover/develop feedback loops to keep learning more, embrace errors, enhance growth, stability, diversity, resilience, sustainability, and beauty...

the future of the system can be envisioned and brought lovingly into being by discovering how its properties and our values work together...begin with small changes, constant monitoring, follow through...go wherever it leads for we ultimately can't control systems, but we can learn to dance with them!




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