You will learn:
- How to use a “yes/and” rather than an “either/or” mindset.
- How to zoom in and out.
- How to develop a personal leadership style that is open to learning and accepting of feedback.
- How to re-design organisations to improve collaboration and communication.
- How to resist “quick fix solutions” for the symptoms of an issue rather than digging deeper to reveal the root cause.
- How to design effective processes and structures to maintain momentum for change.
- How to keep a bigger picture mindset that constantly monitors the external environment for relevant patterns emerging.
- How to anticipate individual resistance to change as natural, normal and highly predicable.
- How to design delegations and boundaries of authority that hold shared goals tight whilst also being loose, flexible and adaptive about the means of achieving them.
- How to shift your thinking patterns because How you think…Is how you plan…Is how you act…And that…Determines The Results You Get in work and life!
All of these lessons will be supported by universal thinking scaffold called the ABCs of strategic and systems thinking.
You will be given a reusable canvas to use over and over again in your response to any strategic challenge you will confront in future…
Once you shift your thinking in this way you will never look at the world in the same old way again!
The Overarching Goal
How a leader thinks, is how they plan, which is how they act and that determines the results that they and their organisations get. It is difficult find any other topic more important.
All of these lessons will be supported by universal thinking scaffold called the ABCs of strategic and systems thinking.
You will be given a reusable canvas to use over and over again in your response to any strategic challenge you will confront in future…
Watch-Try-Do Simulations
Adult/experiential learning is learning that occurs naturally when a person engages in some activity, looks back at the activity from a critical stand point, extracts some useful insight or knowledge from the analysis, and puts the result to work through a change in behavior. Of course, this process is experienced spontaneously in everyone’s ordinary life as we reflect and adapt to events: what happened; so what are the implications for me; and now what am I going to do.
WATCH (Experiencing)
In the WATCH (Experiencing) mode, we show you how to work with the systems thinking approach®. For best results, the use of the systems thinking approach® is recommended and it is the core universal thinking framework for all 13 modules in this course. For this, we have recorded the explanation of the '12 dynamics of open systems’ by Ludwig von Bertalanffy (1950). These dynamic inner workings of systems provide the foundations of the ABCDE framework. These dynamics are demonstrated using case studies, examples and explanations as a video or through a reading in the online course.
TRY (Processing)
Participants are encouraged to try executing these concepts in your own personal work-place-based case study by completing the ABCDE canvas template provided for download and recommended to print in A3 landscape using the 24 "strategic hack" worksheets shared across the 13 modules in the TRY (Processing) mode. They will see options and highlights illustrated in the readings to help them. This acts as reinforcement and facilitates learning by doing.
DO (Generalising & Applying)
In the DO (Generalising & Applying) mode, participants execute the steps in the process on their own, without any hints. If someone gets stuck at any point, there are readings and case studies to refer to.
Practice makes perfect. Participants can view the simulation videos and try any number of times till they gain the confidence in use of the strategic hacks. Over the next six months they can always go back and review for reinforcement.
ABC Model For Best Results
Five questions to be asked in this sequence:
PHASE A: Where do we want to be?
PHASE B: How will we know when we get there?
PHASE C: What are the inputs required for action?
PHASE D: How do we get there?
PHASE E: Ongoing: What will/may change in your environment in the future?
Holism
Living Systems are whole entities with unique characteristics.
Learning Objective
Students will be able to apply systems thinking to a common leadership problem by clarifying desired outcomes and appropriate time frames for the whole system, and avoiding the trap of optimising individual parts at the expense of overall results.
Open Systems
Living Systems are Open Systems
Boundaries
Living Systems Have Defined Boundaries
Learning Objective
Students will be able to define and set appropriate system boundaries for a given strategy, identify which stakeholders fall inside and outside those boundaries (including using WESK – Who Else Should Know?), and focus efforts on the system level where decision-making power and interest are highest, rather than be condemned to ‘whack‑a‑mole’ responses in the wrong parts of the system.
Input/Output
Living Systems Transform Inputs into Outputs
Learning Objective
Students will be able to critically examine their own habits and assumptions using systems thinking to distinguish ‘doing things right’ from ‘doing the right things’, identify activities that no longer create value for customers, and adjust goals and actions accordingly so they stop repeating linear patterns that keep them from achieving their desired outcomes.
Feedback
Living Systems Require Feedback to Continue Living
Learning Objective
Students will be able to define clear, observable indicators of goal achievement and progress, and build a network of ‘critical friends’ to provide timely, honest feedback, so that success is measured with specific evidence rather than vague or ambiguous signals.
Multiple Outcomes
Living Systems Pursue Multiple Outcomes
Learning Objective
Students will be able to identify and articulate shared super-ordinate goals and individual ‘win‑win’ benefits (WIIFM) for key stakeholders, so they can balance big‑picture aims with critical details, reduce unintended adversaries, and gain the collaborative support needed to achieve their objectives.
Equifinality
Living Systems Display Equifinality
Learning Objective
Students will be able to distinguish between centralizing key outcomes (for consistent direction) and decentralizing methods (to enable speed, leanness, and flexibility), so they can clarify ends, avoid inconsistent goals, and empower their organization to adaptively solve problems without a one-size-fits-all approach.
Entropy
Living Systems Are Subject to Entropy
Learning Objective
Students will develop capability to apply a systems thinking lens to sustaining change by identifying the systemic causes of stalled initiatives, designing supports that maintain enthusiasm over time, and avoiding the assumption that strategy, operations, and relationships will thrive without intentional, ongoing leadership.
Hierarchy
Living Systems are Hierarchical
Learning Objective
Students will develop capability to identify leverage points (structures, processes, and mental models) within complex systems to maximize the impact of investments, by challenging customer assumptions, aligning new designs with desired results, and avoiding the trap of static mental models that hinder adaptation.
Interrelated parts
Living Systems Have Interrelated Parts
Learning Objective
Students will develop capability to tackle adaptive challenges using systems thinking by mapping interdependencies and relationships among system parts, anticipating unintended short- and long-term consequences, integrating diverse stakeholder perspectives, and avoiding the pitfalls of unilateral assumptions or excluding voices that reveal hidden dynamics.
Dynamic Equilibrium
Living Systems Tend Toward Dynamic Equilibrium
Learning Objective
Students will develop capability to anticipate unintended outcomes in complex systems by distinguishing root causes from symptoms, uncovering personal contributions and biases shaped by past experiences, accounting for time delays in effects, fostering patience amid unresolved issues, and prioritizing engagement and culture to sustain dynamic equilibrium.
Internal Elaboration
Living Systems Produce Internal Elaboration
Learning Objective
Students develop capability to combat organizational complexity and bureaucracy using systems thinking by proactively designing structures and processes that resist emerging red tape, continuously monitoring for unnecessary additions, and avoiding the mistake of allowing complexity to spiral unchecked.