On Dancing in Three Tenses and Variety Performances

15 December 2021

Cathy Hobbs Visiting Fellow @ Northumbria University

In this blog, Catherine Hobbs (cathy.hobbs@northumbria.ac.uk) reflects upon the potential blending of Human Learning Systems and the rich variety of established Systems Thinking approaches.

There is a rich variety of tried and tested systems thinking approaches to potentially help with the Human Learning Systems approach to public service. I would see the blending and development of established systems thinking approaches with Human Learning Systems as being very much a part of the significant experimentation, learning and adaptation that is currently taking place in the real world, unfolding in real time.

A mindset change to enthuse rather than overwhelm

“Within the context of Human Learning Systems, the humble goal is improving systems literacy, not achieving some grand form of systemic mastery.”

It could be easy to be overwhelmed by both the enormity and multiple connectivities of contemporary challenges: yet a simple change in mindset could help gather enthusiasm and energy instead. Within the context of Human Learning Systems, I would see the humble goal as improving systems literacy in order to move forward with informed deliberations about humanising public service for the real world, and not an aspiration to achieve some grand form of systemic mastery. This literacy would itself include the recognition of systems and their interpretive nature – something which seems too rarely to be questioned.

The good news is that a little bit of systemic curiosity and appreciation goes a long way, particularly if drawn in three tenses:

Drawing from past experience and knowledge about thinking more systemically, helping to compensate for what is absent. Each systems thinking approach has been developed by someone to address a perceived absence: what is missing now is the absence of an agreed collective approach to applying a variety of approaches to help address complexity. An exciting challenge in itself!

I would call this act the taking up of the baton of past knowledge and experience to perform our very best for ‘our turn.’

Making space for collaborative learning, to act thoughtfully within the present in a more connected way than has happened in the past (a quality I have called ‘synergistic vigilance’ pg. 28).

I would call this the act of simply expanding connectivity by thinking about the present-day people-based connections between disciplines, specialisms, teams, departments, fields of human endeavour and so on. This is not as difficult as it may sound: it is just a form of ‘scoping’ and expanding contacts with other people. A great practical example of this is RCTs or Randomised Coffee Trials.

Beginning to learn together continuously and adapt towards a more equitable future, and with the greatest respect for future generations.

I would call this an act of moral duty – for how can we be so involved in our own busyness, that we fail to think about the plight of future generations who will inherit the cultures and habitat for all, that we leave behind?

Drawing on the great resource of past knowledge and experience, expanding horizons within the present, and adapting towards a more equitable future: that is how I envisage dancing in three tenses.

Learning to adapt together along the way: what it is to be human

In the same way that we are not aiming for systemic mastery (as if that was even desirable or possible…), we cannot consider whole systems, for our understanding is inevitably always partial: instead, we need to think consciously about the practical and effective boundaries of our human inquiries, as well as the normative angle – what we ought to be paying attention to, and doing something about. We are not looking for one-off ‘solutions’ to parade, but rather, we wish to learn to adapt together along the way. This adaptation will best be cultivated by avoiding single perspective, reductionist approaches (i.e. mechanistic) to problematic situations of complexity: instead considering many perspectives, and adopting a more holistic approach (i.e. systemic). At the same time, we can very much look forward to re-connecting with what it is to be human. I do believe that we are born as systems thinkers, and many have those valuable dimensions ironed out of them by the way that society is organised: that can change.

The learning pathway to a future?

“deliberation about proper human values, and the ever-present dilemmas of our society”

It is difficult being authoritative about the value of opening up a collective uncertainty to help address complexity, and then continuing with that uncertainty in order to create the adaptive learning pathway to a future. One thing I am certain about, however, is that continuing in specialist silos, or continuing to create new ‘add-on’ silos just isn’t good enough: that is the pathway to no future at all. We still need the valuable specialist silos as the warp of society, but the weft is constantly needed too, to weave together a more sophisticated form of collective learning. A variety of established systems thinking approaches, including facilitative ones, could help with this. Although, for a long time, those in public service have been subjected to reporting supposed outcomes of fiscal spend from within the constraints of a siloed conception of efficiency, our best resources are our human ones. People need to be trusted to be able to fulfil their potential in a humane manner, using a collective and intelligent form of analysis, synthesis, and deliberation about proper human values, within the context of the ever-present dilemmas of our society.

Triple loop learning as touchstone

“Critical reflection about knowledge and values”

In general terms, what matters about the process of learning and adaptation? Crucially, will the learning expand wide and deep enough? Will it help us to:

think differently through collaborative learning? e.g. be able to discuss together ‘System Failure’, and how our thinking and allocation of time may change for the better
address assumptions through critical appraisal?
consider wider contexts through a dynamic form of diagnosis?
engage people through authentic participation?
consider systemic effectiveness through clarity of purpose?

In order to focus at a starting point for systemic learning, a good touchstone is the concept of triple loop learning, which goes beyond double loop learning (reframing), incorporating a third loop of critical reflection about knowledge and values (transforming). All of the above list has associated systems thinking approaches and resources which can help support this process of triple loop learning and, to some degree, guard against unintended consequences. There seems to be much resonance between this approach aided by systems thinking, and that of social pedagogy – an area for further research, perhaps?

Systems thinking, leadership and co-creation

“thoughtfulness about the relationship between systems thinking and systems leadership”

I am keen to link the act of prising open spaces for a variety of systems thinking approaches as a nascent form of distributed 21st-Century leadership, to help address complexity through a process of adaptive social learning. This requires thoughtfulness about the relationship between systems thinking and the concept of systems leadership, as well as co-creation. Improving systems literacy could help enhance both systems leadership and co-creation through deliberation, rather than by seeking fast delivery of results: the latter approach inevitably keeps the adjacent space of considering new possibilities locked well away.

A systems thinking skillset to innovate relationships

“Viewed as a skillset, systems thinking helps expand towards new and different ways of thinking, working and learning together”

If systems thinking is viewed as a developing knowledge or skillset, rather than as a toolkit, it could help relieve the inappropriate pressure of ‘delivery’ in a world that we are regularly told is ‘fast-paced.’ There is a lot of promise here in the facilitative nature of many systems thinking approaches, which can also help support the humanisation of digital applications. This approach can help contextualise a problematic situation and hold off from jumping towards simplistic or traditional ‘solutions’, enabling people to be more open and creative together. For example, an experiment is underway to create an on-line version of Stafford Beer’s Team Syntegrity approach, which contains a powerful new potential for developing collective consciousness and intelligence that Stafford Beer himself would possibly be very excited by… The discussions arising from this approach help to motivate action because they help to identify what to pay attention to, and what could be enacted within the gift of the small group of people involved.

Viewed as a skillset, systems thinking helps expand towards new and different ways of thinking, working and learning together, thus beginning to innovate relationships through being permitted to work together as human beings, rather than as disenfranchised individuals who are programmed to ‘produce’ results that are known to be questionable. The systems thinking skillset of analysis, synthesis and deliberation can be (but doesn’t have to be) supported by digital skills/techniques.

Keeping good company: on people, places, resources and optimism

Those of us seeking new and different ways of how life and work can ‘work better’ for people and planet are in good company: many are now exchanging resources and sharing ideas relating to systems thinking, innovation and systemic design, to help with sense-making in addressing complexity. Here are a few examples:

OECD’s Observatory of Public Sector Innovation (OPSI) has been undertaking investigations relating specifically to systems thinking and, following the outbreak of COVID, OECD has convened extensive international events e.g. Government Beyond Recovery: Towards a future-fit public sector, OECD, October 2021: Government Economists for New Economic Systems (GENESYS), incorporating new economic thinking and systems-based approaches, offers a platform for debating, experimenting and discussing policy alternatives (launched 4 November 2021), and Systemic Thinking for Policy Making: The Potential of Systems Analysis for Addressing Global Policy Challenges in the 21st Century, New Approaches to Economic Challenges.
In 2020, the Critical Systems Forum (CSF) was established by Paul Barnett of the Enlightened Enterprise Academy on invitation by Emeritus Professor Michael C Jackson of the Centre for Systems Studies, University of Hull. CSF is a think-tank with a focus on Critical Systems Thinking applied to major social, environmental and organisational issues, and by businesses and organisations in all sectors.
The Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research and The World Health Organisation has instigated a global Systems Thinking Accelerator Project (SYSTAC), creating a community for systems thinkers to engage, connect and collaborate to elevate the field of systems thinking to improve health. Its objective is to increase the use of systems thinking in practice, especially in low- and middle- income settings (LMICs).
Specialist groups within academia continue to actively develop the field of systems thinking through teaching and research e.g. Centre for Systems Studies, University of Hull: Open University Applied Systems Thinking in Practice, currently in 2021 celebrating its 50th anniversary. The field of systems thinking is beautifully diverse, and still with a lot of development potential. There are many individual highly-experienced systems thinking practitioners and applied groups working steadily, tirelessly and mostly ‘under the radar’ e.g. SCiO group. For those who question why systems thinking has not ‘taken off’ as it should (I used to be one of those people), – I have discovered more and more that (depending upon what you think ‘systems’ actually refers to) actually, systems thinking is alive, well and kicking: it’s more a case of lack of overt acknowledgement, than that it is not happening.
Last year I undertook a short period of research with the UK Cabinet Office to assist in the development of a strategy to embed systems thinking into the culture of the UK civil service. Systems Thinking Practitioner Apprenticeships have also been developed since 2020 at the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, which is sponsored by the Department for Education.
Integration and Implementation Sciences (I2S) is a new discipline providing concepts and methods for research about complex, real-world problems. I2S is a lively intellectual hub where systems thinkers, action researchers, and those working within transdisciplinarity, post-normal science, implementation science, integrated assessment, team science and so on can share knowledge and experience about their concepts and practice in addressing real-world complexity.
The Systemic Design Association is an established network of people exploring the relationship between design thinking and systems thinking, with an annual conference.
In the education sector, since 2016 the Ellen Macarthur Foundation has funded the inclusion of teaching about systems thinking, the circular economy and complexity into the curriculum of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma.

If this is music to your ears, please help with a variety performance

I’ve found much inspiration from appreciating potential currents of dynamism and energy, learning about how to overcome inertia by thinking differently, meeting differently, and working differently together, as well as by identifying buoyant movements and opportunistically taking advantage of that. This has not necessarily been an easy path, but working with creative tension can be fruitful. When times get hard, as they do, listening to music helps to spur me on. Courtesy of New York Times, I’ve recently found a wonderful piece of music and video called Strum by the very talented Jessie Montgomery, played by the Catalyst Quartet here. The dynamism of the music is beautifully complemented by the film at Deno’s [eccentric – literally] Wonder Wheel Amusement Park, Coney Island, New York. Being a Lancashire lass, my twitter image is a section of the giant 6m rotating disco ball on Blackpool promenade near the Pleasure Beach – a constantly rotating fragmented mirror image reflection of earth, sea and sky. It was created by Michael Trainor, made by an engineering firm in Oldham, and named after a 1960s film about record-breaking dance marathons.

Variety shows were all the rage at Blackpool and other sea-side places (on the edge): their particular form of varied social entertainment is not so much in evidence now. Yet the subject of this blog is about more than pure entertainment in times of hardship: it is about the prospect of achieving a gradual system recovery through an ability to dance in three tenses, to gradually but steadily achieve a variety performance of adaptive social learning. Could this be the antidote to the oft-quoted situation that ‘one size does not fit all,’ and become a step along the way to human flourishing in the important arena of re-humanising public service for the real world? I hope so.

A single crisis of perception: expanding systems literacy to help address real-world complexity

“…..these problems must be seen as just different facets of one single crisis, which is largely a crisis of perception”. Fritjof Capra 1996

I believe the soundest progress will be made by being ever-curious about the three tenses, while continuing to resist the ‘one size fits all’ approach, by being open to exploring and developing a variety performance of systems thinking approaches. That is the energising challenge for our generation that will help to overcome what Capra referred to as a single crisis of perception: many of our large institutions are still clinging to an illusory outdated worldview of ‘control’ that has proved to be inadequate. At the same time, it is heartening that many people – including people from within those very institutions - are recognising this failure, and are willing to ‘let go’ and do something about it.

At the very heart of a successful ‘variety performance’ of systems thinking lies an understanding that the spotlight must first be shone upon cultivating an accepted culture of expanding systems literacy, that is both broad - and practical. Ultimately, this understanding could help ‘fast track’ human capability in addressing the complexity of the real-world more effectively and sympathetically, through dancing in three tenses, and achieving a variety performance through adaptive social learning.

---------------------------------------

My Visiting Fellowship at Northumbria University is due to end next year; any feedback or comments about this blog would be much appreciated (e-mail address below). Having set the scene for a broad (variety) and deep (applicable in practice) scope for the systems aspect of human learning systems, I hope that feedback will help me develop ideas further in a way that is practically tailored to the evolving needs of the HLS community.

I’d be interested to know from the HLS community:

Questions, questions

Have systems thinking approaches already been used in HLS projects? If so, how? What was learned? Any pitfalls?
What systems thinking expertise already exists within the HLS community?
What are the constraints and opportunities for applying a variety of systems thinking approaches to thinking differently, addressing assumptions, considering wider contexts, engaging people and considering systemic effectiveness?
What could the systems thinking community do to help contribute to HLS?
In particular, how can systems thinking approaches help with System Stewardship and the role of Learning Partners?
Why does systems thinking not feature more in educational settings?
If you wish to know more, how would you want to learn about systems thinking?
How can a variety of systems thinking approaches find an identity, to sit alongside other popular and useful approaches, and yet not overwhelm?
Any other thoughts, ideas or comments to add to this?

cathy.hobbs@northumbria.ac.uk

Catherine Hobbs, December 2021

@systemslocalgov

With thanks to Toby Lowe and Hannah Hesselgreaves for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this blog.

Easier INC