Exploring the inconvenience of systems thinking

In the final of this 'triplet' of podcasts, Holly and Rachel are this week talking about the inconvenience of systems thinking.

From the very get-go at ThoughtBox, we've had systems thinking as one of the three pillars of our work to encourage a deeply relational experience of the world (Thinking, Feeling, Connecting) by connecting with others, connecting with the wider world, and feeling deeply connected with ourselves.

Thinking in systems has started being given a lot of attention - you can take multiple courses in systems-thinking, whilst systems-change is all the range. But what is a system? What does it mean to transform systems? And what is systems thinking anyway?

This week we unpick the inconvenience of systems thinking by going right back to the roots and appreciating how this is not a 'thing to learn about' but simply how life works. We are all of us part of infinite, interconnected systems and 'thinking in systems' simply means knowing and noticing the connections that we are a part of and influenced by. This is as simple and as profound as it gets.

In this episode we reference the following:

• Donella Meadows - Thinking in systems (website / book)
• The Blind men and the elephant parable (video)
• Transforming Leadership Course (website page)
• Nostrils & systems - Chapter 1: The Story of Triple WellBeing - Rachel Musson (free ebook)
• Donut Economics - Kate Raworth (website, book, framework)
• How Wolves Change Rivers (video)
• Manfred Max-Neef - Human Needs Matrix (video)
• Gross National Happiness (alternative to GDP) - (website / approach)
• Peter Senge - introduction to systems thinking (video)
• 'From Domination to Restoration' - Jon Conradi (article)
• adrienne maree brown and Toshi Reagon (Octavia's Parables podcast)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.