Toronto, Ontario; Gravenhurst, Ontario
Japanese Paper Place: Show and tell @thejpp #GoSomewhere Japanese Art Tour. #AkikoTakeuchi described her approach to painting, as well as creating books with patterns that were used in designing the dress she was wearing. Each panelist spoke about her inspirations and methods, particularly in the choices amongst varieties of washi paper. One stop on a journey through cities Quebec and Ontario, coinciding with celebration of Canada-Japan 90 years of diplomatic relations. (The Japanese Paper Place, The East Mall, Etobicoke, Ontario) 20190801West Island: Couple spent 10 minutes canoodling inside the #JapaneseBell, situated on an @OntarioPlace islet just west of #Cinesphere. Solid bronze cast in 1977 was a gift from #JapanExternalTradeOrganization and Japanese Ontarians to the Province. Simcoe Day quiet in the downtown core, many pedestrians near the waterfront. (West Island, Ontario Place, Lake Shore Blvd. West, Toronto, Ontario) 20190805Corktown Commons: Discovered bubble soccer game with players on the grass, on an open athletic field that I’ve never seen in use. Running while carrying a zorb ball must be tiring, as some runners chose to relax on the ground rather than chasing and dribbling. Noticed minivan parked just off the street with deflated balls inside, and small motors ready to pump them up. (Corktown Commons Park, Mill Street at Bayview Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20190808Power Plant Gallery: Takes some reading to appreciate @abboutjoana and #KhalilJoreige (2014) #TheGeometryOfSpace @ThePowerPlantTO as part of #OnScams exhibition. Circulation of e-mail messages printed in #TheScamAtlases book, drawn on walls in pencil, and represented in 3D with curved oxidized steel rods. Faced surface for traffic in 2008, attendant warned to not lean on the opposite wall, in case the graphite might get rubbed away. (The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Queen’s Quay West, Toronto, Ontario) 20190808Systems Thinking Ontario: Relaxed first-person reports on summer systems conferences from the west coast @ocadslab . Multiple attendees @asc_cybernetics Vancouver and @isssmeeting Corvallis, so coverage over parallel streams more complete. Many of us have longer history with these systems organizations, providing colour commentary on history and anticipated futures. (Systems Thinking Ontario, Strategic Innovation Lab, Richmond Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20190812Riverside neighbourhood: Home cooked meal for family travelling from the UK, on summer vacation back in the land where they started. Before they had kids, they used to look after our kids. After dinner, paper crafting session, as our family doesn’t normally include girls. (Riverside neighbourhood, Toronto, Ontario) 20190813Gravenhurst Opera House: Drove up to my hometown with my father, for a stay of one or two days, to check out the building across the street from the local landmark. Discovering how many loose ends for the family might need wrapping up. Could be the first overnight in the apartment since before DY and I married. (Opera House, Muskoka Road South, Gravenhurst, Ontario) 20190820Lions Pavilion: On a bright, warm afternoon walking Muskoka Wharf, noticed a Public Outdoor Room (as A Pattern Language #69 describes) that provides shade and a social place to rest. My father said that he was out of town on the two days of construction May 1-2, 1993, by 60 tradespeople and volunteers, but was part of the Lions Club crew who later painted the ceiling white. The colour has changed, and the site is well maintained. Chatted with a woman looking after her grandniece, who remembered saying that such a project would never come to be. Father said he was on town council public works, and approved a suggestion to invite clean fill from excavated sites, filling in the marsh. (Lions Pavilion, Muskoka Wharf, Bay Street, Gravenhurst, Ontario) 20190821Google Developer Group Cloud Toronto: Pacman game controlled by #RamkumarArunamoorthy turning head on camera #GDGCloudToronto demonstrating #TensorFlow. Self-paced Intro to ML (Image Processing) @quiklabs course, with leader on big screen helping people getting stuck. Completing the first lab with 60 minute timer countdown isn’t an issue those who came for the GDG Cloud Essentials a few months ago, but puts stress on those unaccustomed to a Linux terminal. (Google Developer Group Cloud Toronto, George Brown College Waterfront Campus, Dockside Drive, Toronto, Ontario) 20190824Edward Gardens: Renewal of vows for 34th year, original venue fountain is still the same, a few more flowers in the background. Noticed more improvements and construction around the grounds. Family dinner of Hakka cuisine a change. (Edward Gardens, Lawrence Avenue East, Don Mills, Ontario) 20190824Mums the Word: Social meetup @OpenIDEO_TO local chapter, describing design challenges towards building solutions to tough challenges. Small discussion groups, met some attendees new to city. Exercise on idea generation using How Might We starter, then group refinement to ensure not too broad or narrow. Session sets expectation for upcoming design challenge next month. (Mums the Word, College Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20190827Systems Thinking TO: Summer retrospective and thinking forward for #SystemsThinking Ontario, relaxed discussion on plans for rest of year amongst small group. Session was organized on short notice, as last month was prorogued in vacation season. Will bring back swashbooking, and try some case studies as coming events. (System Thinking TO, Loyalty One, King Street East, Toronto, Ontario) 20190828Muskoka Road South: After-dinner couples stroll on main street, Friday of Labour Day long weekend. Dad says that the summer vacationers have already left, preparing children to start school on Tuesday. Brewpub a few blocks north busy serving flights, live music attracting hipsters. (Muskoka Road South, Gravenhurst, Ontario) 20190830
Rickshaw Restaurant: Revisited the place I knew as a child 60 years ago as Queen’s Cafe, where our family had a start in this small town. The basic layout is the same, with a section raised a small step to the east, and the kitchen beyond. The counter facing the south wall with pies in refrigerator cases and milkshake makers is gone, with small tables now in front of a mirror. The room looks smaller, of course, beyond the perspective of a 4-year old. (Rickshaw Restaurant, Muskoka Road South, Gravenhurst, Ontario) 20190831
For those who haven’t read the 1965 Emery and Trist article, its seems as though my colleague Doug McDavid was foresighted enough to blog a summary in 2016! His words have always welcomed here, as Doug was a cofounder of this web site. At the time of writing, the target audience for this piece was […]
In the famous 1965 Emery and Trist article, the terms “causal texture” and “contextual environment” haven’t been entirely clear to me. With specific meanings in the systems thinking literature, looking up definitions in the dictionary generally isn’t helpful. Diving into the history of the uses of the words provides some insight. 1. Causal texture 2. […]
Towards appreciating “action learning”, the history of open systems thinking and pioneering work in organization science, the influence of Action Learning Group — in the Faculty of Environment Studies founded in 1968 at York University (Toronto) — deserves to be resurfaced. 1. Trist in Canada 2. Environmental studies, and contextualism in organizational-change 3. Action learning, […]
The news that Doug McDavid — my friend, colleague, and one of the original cofounders of the Coevolving Innovations web site in 2006 — had passed, first came through mutual IBM contacts. More details subsequently showed up on LinkedIn from Mike McClintock. Doug left us on May 9, while working at his desk, likely in […]
One of the challenges with the development of pattern languages is the cross-appropriation of approaches of techniques from one domain (i.e. built physical environments) into others (e.g. software development, social change). The distinction between pattern language and form language is made by Nikos Salingaros. Design in architecture and urbanism is guided by two distinct complementary […]
The 1995 article by Spinosa, Flores & Dreyfus on “Disclosing New Worlds” was assigned reading preceding the fourth of four lectures for the Systemic Design course in the Master’s program in Strategic Foresight and Innovation at OCAD University. In previous years, this topic was a detail practically undiscussed, as digging into social theory and the phenomenology […]
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 ›
Social ecology and environmental psychology described @dstokols @Social_Ecology , interviewed by @katiepatrick . References #WilliamsJames on attention. Book on Social Ecology in the Digital Age released in 2018.Read more ›
Concerns on #personaldata should be reframed as interpersonal, says @sheldrake , less the nodes and more the edge connections. “I want to take back control” superficial, @hartzog says control doesn’t scale. Agency is about negotiation in the world, more rhizomatic…Read more ›
Doing science should be wayfinding (pathfinding), says #TimIngold , gaining grounding in the art of paying attention, towards research as the pursuit of truth. Truth is more than objective facts, where science and art are embraced with materials, so that we can see the quality inside the natural world as it forms, rather than as […]
We should be more vigourous, says @MazzucatoM , in debating differences between value extraction and value creation, and between profits and rents. Lecture at Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford U., January 2019Read more ›
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).
Saying “it doesn’t matter” or “it matters” is a common expression in everyday English. For scholarly work, I want to “keep using that word“, while ensuring it means what I want it to mean. The Oxford English Dictionary (third edition, March 2001) has three entries for “matter”. The first two entries for a noun. The […]
It's been challenging to find sources that specifically define two-word phrases -- i.e. "systemic change", "systematic change", "systems change" -- as opposed to loosely inferring reductively from one-word definitions in recombination. MartinReynolds @OpenUniversity clarifies uses of the phrases, with a critical eye into motives for choosing a specific label, as well as associated risks and […]
The term "environmental" can be mixed up with "ecological", when the meanings are different. We can look at the encyclopedia definitions (François 2004), and then compare the two in terms of applied science (i.e. engineering with (#TimothyFHAllen @MarioGiampietro and #AmandaMLittle, 2003).
While many outside of the field of architecture like the #ChristopherAlexander #PatternLanguage approach, it's not so well accepted by his peers. A summary of criticisms by #MichaelJDawes and #MichaelJOstwald @UNSWBuiltEnv is helpful in appreciating when the use of pattern language might be appropriate or not appropriate.
Systems thinking should include not only thinking about the system, but also its environment. Using the term "field" as the system of interest plus its influences leaves a lot of the world uncovered. From the multiple definitions in the International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics , there is variety of ways of understanding "field".
