Sensing the Water

  In his book Reality Is Not What It Seems: The Journey to Quantum Gravity the physicist Carlo Rovelli writes: “I believe that in order to understand reality, we have to keep in mind that reality is this network of relations, of reciprocal information, that weaves the world.  We slice up the reality surrounding us into objects.  But reality is not made up of discrete objects.  It is a variable flux.  Think of an ocean wave. Where does a wave finish?  Where does it begin? …. A living organism is a system that continually re-forms itself in order to remain itself, interacting ceaselessly with the external world….The nature of a man is not his internal structure but the network of personal, familial, and social interactions within which he exists….As humans, we are that which others know of us, that which we know of ourselves, and that which others know about our knowledge.  We are complex nodes in a rich web of reciprocal information.” (Rovelli, 2018, p...

  According to Peter Checkland the term systems thinking simply refers to consciously organized thinking using systems ideas (1).  But what are systems ideas and how do they relate to systems improvements, especially those improvements that correct persistent injustices and promote equity?  Let’s start by defining a system.  According to Donella Meadows a system is an interconnected set of elements that is coherently organized in a way that achieves something (2).    Some people use causal loop diagrams or other mapping tools to visualize system elements and their connections for the purpose of understanding the parts and wholes of systems and to promote systems thinking. Additional tools exist for systems thinking.  For example, Meadows used an iceberg model  as one tool to describe levels of systems thinking with attention to locating leverage points in difficult to observe systemic conditions. Essentially, the deeper you go down into the i...