Tongji U. College of Design and Innovation: Photo day for Creative Systemic Research Platform, first as the whole team, and then with smaller groups for images that might be used in digital enhancement. Scheduled in a small overlap of travel schedules with people coming in and out of town. In a design school, there’s a professional photography studio, and multiple professional photographers, resources to which I’m unaccustomed. (Tongji University College of Design and Innovation, Fuxin Road, Yangpu, Shanghai, PR China) 20190402Tongji U. College of Design and Innovation: Ph.D. students for Quantitative Methods in Design course requested a reprise visit after formal classes ended last week, to discuss with Professor Yi Heng CHENG, who has been travelling. Having experienced the intensive 3-week course, with two full days of group work preparing for presentation, students said they learned a lot, and actually asked Professor Susu Nousala if the session be longer. The formal course is only one step on the journey for graduate studies, ongoing conversations with the faculty can continue for a lifetime. (Tongji University College of Design and Innovation, Fuxin Road, Yangpu district, Shanghai, PR China) 20190402 Rockbund Art Museum: Tobias Rehberger (2018) “Free Coffee Free Parking Freedom” installation from fifth floor @Rockbund, as part of “If You Don’t Use Your Eyes To See, You Will Use Them To Cry”. Signage embodies an information paradox, where availability without charge may encourage an unrestrained liberty to consume or get more. Our visit coincided with the museum opening for the day, so a rapid visit of 30 minutes with no crowds. (Rockbund Art Museum, Huqiu Rd, Huangpu Qu, Shanghai, PR China) 20190403PVG Terminal 2: Lineup with baggage x-ray is standard not only to enter airport terminal, but also railway station, and even municipal metro. Travel time from French Concession to PVG was 55 minutes with a reserved taxi driver. Another hour added for the building queue, checking in luggage, clearing exit border security, and hand luggage x-ray scan. After 23 days away, looking forward to a return to normalcy at home, after a 12-hour time zone change. (Shanghai Pudong International Airport, Terminal 2, PR China) 20190404Ngoc Yen: Dinner amongst systems sciences research colleagues, organized on 5 hours notice with JR passing through for onward flight tomorrow. Discussed current projects and plans for upcoming conferences, we’ll end up spending more time together outside of Toronto than at home. Unexpected quality Vietnamese food in a suburban industrial district. (Pho Ngoc Yen Restaurant, Kamato Road, Mississauga, Ontario) 20190409Westin Harbour Castle: Open source culture @RedHat says @realmikecardy includes (i) collaboration; (ii) transparency (both access and the ability to act); (iii) shared problems are solved faster; and (iv) working together creates standardization. Red Hat Day on Microservices, Containers, APIs and Integration extends long tradition towards open organizations, consistent with my research on http://openinnovationlearning.com/ (Westin Harbour Castle, Queen’s Quay, Toronto, Ontario) 20190411Woodbine Beach: Big red chair is double-sized, not so functional for relaxing when facing away from the bay. Bright, sunny day attracts pedestrians onto the boardwalk, but it’s still cold enough to wear full-finger gloves on the bicycle. (Woodbine Beach, Toronto, Ontario) 20190413Bill Boyle Artport Gallery: Chair, side table and lamp @HarbourfrontTO brought together as Oscar Kwong (2018-2019) Companions, in mundane functionality and rationality. Drawings on the wall suggest alternative interactions by human beings with the inanimate objects. Part of The View from Here exhibition. (Bill Boyle Artport Gallery, Harbourfront Centre, Queen’s Quay West, Toronto, Ontario) 20190419Bill Boyle Artport Gallery: Inside a glass case @HarbourfrontCentre, Auli Rautiainen (2018) Mutation Series is kiln-formed glass that doesn’t show the gloss or fluidity normally associated with the material. Part of the Nordic Glass exhibition, curators must be rotating the collection over time. (Bill Boyle Artport Gallery, Harbourfront Centre, Queens Quay West, Toronto, Ontario) 20190419Innis Town Hall: Marquis event with #LucySuchman on Apparatuses of Recognition @JHIevents @UofTInfoFaculty Situational awareness criticizing the core doctrine of command and control with (i) the training situation; (ii) remote control to separate the soldier from the combat; and (iii) autonomous weapon systems. Video replay at https://www.facebook.com/iSchoolToronto/videos/342667976597711/ . (Innis Town Hall, University of Toronto, St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20190422Toronto Red Hat Users Group: Understanding evolution of technology via #WojciechSerafin #RHUG #RedHat, with initial pledge to use the term Containers rather than the popular label of Docker. Appreciating implementations of the Open Container Initiative on Linux, with Buildah, Skopeo and Podman. A hint of the future with Quarkus as Kubernetes Native Java. Taking personal responsibility for continuing learning, the world changes. (Toronto Red Hat Users Group, Arctiq, Britain Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20190423Toronto Reference Library: Second day @changepaths @Challengfactory @fernlebo #TheTalentRevolution book launched @torontolibrary, where the authors often met. Five drivers shaping a revolution the world of work: (i) demographics of longevity, with baby boomers; (ii) career ownership, shift in power between employees and employers; (iii) freelance economy, gig mobility; (iv) platform environments, B2B and B2C; (v) AI and robotics, in potential freed up in human impact. Employers have been slow to respond to the changes. (Toronto Reference Library, Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20190424SystemsThinkingTO: Productivity challenge says #BrianWatson @ConestogaC with low GDP per capita growth and part time employment percentage increasing. High rate of youth unemployment in the midst of a national labour shortage. Compared a race of four individuals on a relay, compared with a systems approach of a rugby team responding to obstructions by passing the ball to win. (Systems Thinking TO, Loyalty One, King Street East, Toronto, Ontario) 20190425 Royal Ontario Museum: Dinosaur @ROMtoronto called Zuul (face like the monster from 1984 Ghostbusters film), species Destroyer of Shins (crurivastator) with a sledgehammer-like tail. Bony armour, four horns on the skull, preserved skin. Discovered in northern Montana, in badlands near the Alberta border. Galleries are good venue for walking and talking with a friend, closing out a busy week. (Royal Ontario Museum, Queen’s Park, Toronto, Ontario) 20190426George Brown College Waterfront Campus: From 7th floor @GBCollege, statue facing away from Toronto Harbour Eastern Channel. Full Saturday Google GDG Cloud Toronto meetup, with hands-on lab to earn GCP Essential badge. (George Brown College Waterfront Campus, Dockside Drive, Toronto, Ontario) 20190427Lowkong Society: Spring festival dinner for the family clan featuring dancers and singers with the food. Waited until courses 6 and 7 for dishes within vegan constraints, others at the table were nearly full by then. (Dim Sum King, Dundas Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20190428
For espoused systems thinkers who are predisposed towards towards finding an equilibrium (or maybe one amongst multiple equilibria), a discussion about entropy can raise discomfort. In the systems sciences, the second law of thermodynamics — as an entropic process — is often cited by the learned as a universal law applicable across physics, chemistry, biology […]
In the 4th year of an espoused 10-year journey, the Systems Changes Learning Circle reached a major milestone. With Code for Canada, the team conducted its first educational workshop based on the contextural action learning approach currently under review for publication. The client was the Canadian Digital Service . The presentation outlining the basic ideas and […]
Many might sequence systems thinking as (i) systems theory preceding (ii) systems practice. This is not always the case. There are situations where (i) systems practice has preceded (ii) systems theory, or the two advance in a tight learning loop. Jack Ring once pointed out that applied science (engineering) precedes science, because human beings often […]
System thinking, coming from roots in mainstream Western philosophy, tends to orient towards (i) thinking in space, before (ii) thinking in time. Structure is an arrangement in space. Process is an arrangement in time. A critical systems perspective leads us to think about inclusion within boundaries. Does this lead us to overlook boundaries in time? […]
The Systems Changes Learning Circle, formed in January 1999, has since been meeting at least once every 3 weeks. In many respects, the core group has exhibited great patience in our mutual learning towards an agenda of Rethinking Systems Thinking, from talks given in 2012, and published in 2013. In anticipation of a journal article […]
In the 1980s, ecological economics seemed to be mostly economists extending their work towards environmental and resource concerns. In the 2020s, ecological economics is seeing a new generation first schooled in other disciplines such as environmental studies or one of the social sciences, then coming into economics. Programs that encourage the new perspective include the […]
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 ›
In this review of a philosophical work written in Chinese, a comparison is made between Chinese philosophy centering on the body, in comparison to Western philosopy centered on the mind. (I found a reference to this book, tracing back from Keekok Lee (2017) Chapter 9, footnote 8.
The translation from English "systems thinking" to French "la pensée systémique" misses meaning. "Approche systémique" has lineage to "Conférences Macy", "General System Theory (Bertalanffy)" and "Gregory Bateson"
When one chooses a guiding philosophy of life -- and the modern world has chosen humanism -- one becomes responsible for all the consequences that flow from that choice. (David W. Ehrenfeld, 1981)
“Rethinking Systems Thinking” (2013) is cited by #DaniloBrozović (U. Skövde), #MarcoTregua (U. Napoli Federico II): The level of complexity in current service ecosystems is rising, not least due to technology (Barile et al., 2020), with the effect of such increased complexity of service ecosystems being perceived as ‘simple’. On the other hand, some systems researchers […]
Jullien views propensity in Chinese philosophy, as a counterpart to causality in Western philosophy. Some unpacking of his writing in digests may be helpful. Jullien, François. 1995. The Propensity of Things: Toward a History of Efficacy in China. Translated by Janet Lloyd. Zone Books. Introduction How can we conceive of the dynamic in terms of the static, in […]
In his system of system concepts, Russell Ackoff made the distinction between reformation and transformation in many of his lectures. Here are two written sources. From Redesigining Society (2003) … Systemic Transformation A system is transformed, as contrasted with reformed, when its structure or functions are changed fundamentally. Such changes are discontinuous and qualitative, quantum […]
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