Road Maps: A Guide to Learning System Dynamics. Systems Thinking - A Disciplined Approach. A Disciplined Approach Systems thinking is an approach for developing models to promote our understanding of events, patterns of behavior resulting in the events, and even more importantly, the underlying structure responsible for the patterns of behavior. If we are interested in addressing a particular situation it is only through our understanding of the underlying structure that we will be able to identify the most appropriate leverage points to effect change within the system. After years of doing what I thought was systems thinking, one day I asked myself the fateful question, "How is it that I actually go about doing this?
" Finding that I didn't have a real good answer to this question prompted me to write this paper in an attempt to sort out an answer. Approach A disciplined approach to systems thinking is perceived to consist of the following steps. Define the Situation Develop a description of the situation as it is currently perceived. Is Systems Thinking Appropriate? Conclusion. Society for Organizational Learning (SoL) Knowledge Management & Organizational Learning resources. Check out these other web sites to learn more about organizational learning. Systems Thinking Assessment Communities of Practice Communities of Practice - definition, ideas, and issues surrounding Key Hypotheses in Supporting Communities of Practice Organizational learning and communities-of-practice: toward a unified view of working, learning, and innovation Communities of Practice: A Review of the Literature American Productivity & Quality Center web site.
Open Space Meetings for large group meetings Emerging Order in Open Space Wisdom Councils - a tool for building a shared vision This technique uses a random sample of individuals from a large organization to sit down together and form a consensus statement about the organization. Other tools Learning Action Matrix - This is an excellent tool that overlays causal loop system thinking on top of a two-dimension learning matrix that helps understand needed actions. Knowledge Management Social Network Analysis (SNA) Miscellaneous [ Back to top ] Making Loops: A Method for Drawing Causal Loop Diagrams: Tips on drawing causal loops. Pins and Windows: Thoughts On Two Types of Questions.
Surfing OL's 3rd wave. Doing checkin. A simple intro to organizational leardning. Systems Thinking & Organizational Learning Primer | Resources & Links. The Practice of Innovation -- Peter M. Senge full-text article.