Toronto, Ontario; San Francisco, California; San Jose, California; Sunnyvale, California; Mountain View, California; Berkeley, California
Cineplex Queensway: Tuesday Matinee viewing of Avengers Infinity War in UltraAVX non-3D is a lot to absorb, having to recall linkages over 10 years of movies. Between prior 16-day trip and upcoming 10-day trip, squeezing in regular life is a luxury. (Cineplex Cinema Queensway, Etobicoke, Ontario) 20180501 MarsDD: Connected data in graphs @fzakariya @neo4j briefing. Beyond relational databases on a LAMP stack, and document databases on the MEAN stack, now looking at GraphQL and Node.js tools. Continual learning on technologies that continue to evolve. (Mars Discovery District, College Street, Toronto, Ontario ) 20180503Pearson T1 aisle 11: Been 18 months since I last flew to USA on AC, despite have travelled to Asia, Europe and western Canada multiple times. I may be part of the statistic of fewer flyers under the current government adminstration. Pearson Terminal moved Air Canada U.S. check-ins to the far end aisles, from the middle. Agent said they did that about 18 months ago. (Pearson Terminal 1, Toronto, Ontario) 20180507SFO International Terminal: By door 06, Rufino Tamayo (1983) “Conquest of Space”, enamel paint on steel. Mexican painter with first sculpture permanently placed outside of Mexico at age 84. Waiting for pickup by AHI at departures level, wearing shorts and sandals. (San Francisco International Airport, International Terminal, California) 20180507San Jose Japantown: Driver attests to Ford Focus 5* safety rating. A sore wrist and three small pricks on the back of left hand are the only post collision symptoms. Neighbours say 4 way stop was installed only a month ago. Northbound sedan struck on driver’s side by Volvo SUV, forcing the car into the utility pole. Side and front air bags deployed. Vehicles taken to towing yard on flatbed trucks. (N.4th Street at E. Empire, Japantown, San Jose, California) 20180508
Merit Vegan: Ex-vegans @rarar @liv_bryce and omnivore @teh_allchemist accommodating my prescribed diet for tofu and eggplant in selecting a dining spot. Indulged in non-dairy desserts. Learning about each other’s backstories, there are surprises in the contexts that make sense in appreciating life journeys. Served by waiter who we’re convinced really enjoys the foods he recommends. (Merit Vegan, Merit Expressway, Sunnyvale, California) 20180510 Kolbeh: Persian restaurant sees koobideh kebab sampled by two, while the majority opts for the more familiar falafel. We’ll join the rest of the family in the North Bay, for the official ceremonies tomorrow. Genial service by head waiter, unexpected with the casual decor. (Kolbeh, El Camino Real, Mountain View, CA) 20180511 Cal Memorial Stadium: UC Berkeley class of 2018 takes 1 hour in procession to fill the seats, audience capacity of 63,000 looks two-thirds full. Maddy’s mother alumna says when she graduated decades ago, ceremonies were smaller by department, so campus-wide events are newer. Extended family attending only this event today, two more departmental events this week. Milestone sesquicentennial 150 years for UC. (California Memorial Stadium, University of California, Berkeley) 20180512UC Berkeley: Family convening for Maddy’s class of 2018 graduation at U.C. Berkeley. Lots of groups lining up for choice photo spots. Exodus from Cal Memorial Stadium at conclusion of ceremonies disperses crowds up and down staircases and the hills on campus. (University of California at Berkeley) 20180512Berkeley Art Center: Examining Jeremiah Jenkins (2018) “Jacob’s Teaset” installation, with barrier and omenous warning to preclude electrical shock. Power cord plugged into wall connects to percolator, placement of the spoon to close a circuit is noticed. Unexpected arc across spark gap between percolator and sugar bowl confirmed danger, but then we couldn’t trigger another zap by bouncing on the floor. Leisure afternoon continued with stroll along Berryman Path, and a visit to the Berkeley Rose Garden. (Berkeley Art Center, Walnut Street, Berkeley, California) 20180513Veggie Garden: Meeting AHI’s circle of friends, social media means everyone is well-briefed on recent news. Some had seen RDI on a prior trip, didn’t know there are more brothers at home. Vegan duck unanimously voted as outstanding. (Veggie Garden, El Camino Real, Mountain View, California) 20180515Yerba Buena: Partition wall sees Future Farmers (2018) “Oar Trade” blades threaded through ports. Baltimore floorboards inlaid into Seattle house, then extracted Seattle floorboards shaped into art objects. This contemporary art show was more conceptual than usual, a lot of documentaries to watch. (Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Mission Street, San Francisco, California) 20180516 SFO Museum: Isamu Noguchi (1986) “Akari Table Lamp Model VB13-T” made of washi paper, bamboo and metal. Display cases in International Terminal showing Japanese-American designer (1904-1988), where 2-dimensional origami folding influences 3-dimensional objects. (San Francisco International Airport, International Terminal G, California). 20180517 Former Weston Bread Factory: Photo installation @laird_kay 2018 “Wonder” abstracts building details of bread production lines now silent since 2014. Venue for Contact Festival at the end of our street received zoning approvals in 2017, pre-sales of condominium units should commence later this month. More construction on our block to be expected. (Former Weston Bread Factory, 462 Eastern Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20180519Pine Hills Cemetery: Igniting incense sticks shielded by the Lowkong monument and inside a metal can. Annual cemetery visit to remember clan members no longer with us, and ancestors in our lineage. (Pine Hills Cemetery, Birchmount Road, Scarborough, Ontario) 20180520 SystemsThinking/TO: Systemic insurrection after ST/TO formal program. I invited anyone who wanted to discuss “why I disagreed with 90% of the presentation on Innovation Engineering” to pull up a chair, and stay for a chat. Emergent multi-way discussion backed up by theoretical and historical recall by Stephen Regoczei. This was an emergent thread from a one-way talking-head agenda, future meetings may seek to be more participative. Photo courtesy of Chris Chapman. (SystemsThinking/TO, LoyaltyOne, King Street East, Toronto, Ontario) 20180524 Sim Toronto: Vintage K-E-M editing table @simcomplete @Doors_OpenTO contrasts to digital editing suites on tours for visitors on this special weekend. Sound isolation from floating floors and 5 panes of window glass is impressive, given the busy city thoroughfares immediately outside. Viewed quick show reel in wonderful facility equipped for Dolby Atmos, but a real demo of the capabilities requires approvals and an NDA that customers normally sign. (Sim International (formerly Tattersall Sound and Picture, Adelaide Street East, Toronto, Ontario) 20180526 203-205 College St.: The BMO branch where I opened an account in 1976 was replaced by a Starbucks, but now only the east wall is left to be demolished. The 5-storey building on the southeast corner of St. George Street and Beverley Street applied to the OMB for a 29-floor tower replacement. My grandparents’ house where I lived was one block west, and during my uncle’s university days, they lived one block south. (203-205 College Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20180527
Grange Park: Rear side of Art Gallery of Ontario, exterior wall colours bright on a sunny day. Bicycle had a flat tire on Spadina, decided to walk further east to position for RDI to pick up in car. (Grange Park, Beverley Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20180530
While the term “theory of change” is often used by funders expecting an outcome of systems change for their investment, is there really a theory there? The November 2020 Systems Thinking Ontario session was an opportunity for Peter H. Jones (OCADU) and Ryan J. A. Murphy (Memorial U. of Newfoundland) to extend talks that they […]
For the third of three workshops by the Systems Changes Learning Circle in October 2020, Kelly Okamura, Dan Eng and Joanne Dong led a Beacon Event for Global Change Days. This session was one in a series for global changemakers. Our expectation was that they would be hands-on practitioners, with relatively low familiarity with systems […]
For the second of three workshops by the Systems Changes Learning Circle in October 2020, we convened a session for the monthly Systems Thinking Ontario meeting. The focus of this workshop was a review of progress to date on methods by the scholarly team, informed by the adoption and use by the field team. The […]
For the first of three workshops by the Systems Changes Learning Circle in October 2020, Zaid Khan led a session for the Relating Systems Thinking and Design RSD9 Symposium. Our team had developed a set of reference slides for the three workshops, from which content that would most resonate with the audience could be selected. […]
Two Major Research Projects (MRPs) — they might be called master’s theses elsewhere — by Zaid Khan and David Akermanis reflect the Systemic Design agenda within the OCADU program on Strategic Foresight and Innovation (SFI). To graduate, all SFI students complete an MRP. With many subjects and techniques covered during SFI studies, only a […]
While it’s important to appreciate the systems thinking foundations laid down by the Tavistock Institute and U. Pennsylvania Social Systems Science (S3, called S-cubed) program, practically all of the original researchers are no longer with us. Luminaries who have passed include Eric L. Trist (-1993), Fred E. Emery (-1997), and Russell L. Ackoff (-2009). This […]
In conversation, @zeynep with @ezraklein reveal authentic #SystemsThinking in (i) appreciating that “science” is constructed by human collectives, (ii) the west orients towards individual outcomes rather than population levels; and (iii) there’s an over-emphasis on problems of the moment, and…Read more ›
In the question-answer period after the lecture, #TimIngold proposes art as a discipline of inquiry, rather than ethnography. This refers to his thinking On Human Correspondence. — begin paste — [75m26s question] I am curious to know what art, or…Read more ›
How might our society show value for the long term, over the short term? Could we think about taxation over time, asks @carlotaprzperez in an interview: 92% for 1 day; 80% within 1 month; 50%-60% tax for 1 year; zero tax for 10 years.Read more ›
For the @ArchFoundation, #TimIngold distinguishes outcome-oriented making from process-oriented growing, revisiting #MartinHeidegger “Building Dwelling Thinking”. Organisms are made; artefacts grow. The distinction seems obvious, until you stop to ask what assumptions it contains, about the inside and outside of things…Read more ›
In web conference, #HermanDaly says #EcologicalEconomics used to get attacked from the right, now it's from the left. Panel @revkin @jon_d_erickson @ktkish @sophiesanniti #TimCrowshaw #KatieHorner livestreamed #sustainwhat .Read more ›
Complementing the idea of a @longnow , @nfergus provokes the challenge of a #shortthen as the online social media platforms distract the larger perspectives on history.Read more ›
Understanding Process-Function Ecology by Ashwani Vasishth leads to luminaries in the systems sciences, including C. West Churchman, Eugene P. Odum and Timothy F.H. Allen.
As an irony, the 2020 book, The Innovation Delusion by #LeeVinsel @STS_News + #AndrewLRussell @RussellProf shouldn’t be seen as an innovation, but an encouragement to join @The_Maintainers where an ongoing thought network can continue. The subtitle “How Our Obsession with the New has Disrupted the Work That Matters Most” recognizes actual innovation, as distinct from […]
An online social network reproduces content partially based on algorithms, and partially based on the judgements made by human beings. Either may be viewed as positive or negative. > The trade-offs came into focus this month [November 2020], when Facebook engineers and data scientists posted the results of a series of experiments called “P(Bad for […]
Social Systems Science graduate students in 1970s-1980s with #RussellAckoff, #EricTrist + #HasanOzbehkhan at U. Pennsylvania Wharton School were assigned the Penguin paperback #SystemsThinking reader edited by #FredEEmery, with updated editions evolving contents.
Resurfacing 1968 Buckley, “Modern Systems Research for the Behavioral Scientist: A Sourcebook” for interests in #SystemsThinking #SocioCybernetics #GeneralSystemsTheory #OrganizationScience . Republication in 2017 hardcopy may be more complete.
Proponents of #SystemsThinking often espouse holism to counter over-emphasis on reductionism. Reading some definitions from an encyclopedia positions one in the context of the other (François 2004).
