Hämeenlinna, Finland; Helsinki, Finland; Lahti, Finland; Espoo, Finland; Suomenlinna; Copenhagen, Denmark; Toronto, Ontario
Sibelius Akatemia Harmonikka: Recital in Hameenlinna, leading up to the Coupe Mondiale (World) Accordion Competition in Turku, Finland. Noora Nyyssönen, Viivi Tigerstedt, MinnaRistamäki (Verkatehdas, Hämeenlinna, Finland) 20151001
Bulevardi 31, P317: Master’s students @metropolia taking a stretch after the first hour of lecture on Service Systems Thinking. Combined classes from Industrial Management and Logistics programs, for a special two hour presentation. From the instructor’s view, there was a lot of content to cover, maybe we can structure a better paced program next time. It’s the 10th year anniversary since we cofounded the Master’s program in Industrial Management. This building housed the Helsinki University of Technology until 1966. (Metropolia Ammattikorkeakoulu / Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, Bulevardi 31, Helsinki, Finland) 20151002Linna Bike Cafe: Celebration by Kata and Emmi @LinnaBikeShop Cafe, new business partnership. Family and friends came to wish well, enjoy in cameraderie. Mud cake a big hit in chocolate richness. A few days ago, observed much activity in preparing the space and scrubbing the kitchen. Now ready for customers. (Linnan Pyöräverstaan Kahvila, Verkatehdas, Hämeenlinna, Finland) 20151003Kariniemi Park: Pikku-Vesijärvi pond is famous for largest musical fountains in the Nordics, but after dark, not on a fall Sunday afternoon. Friend has moved to small town Lahti, commuting 3 days a week to Helsinki, enjoying the quiet after 5 years in busy London. Re-establishing previous university ties to share intelligence on how times have changed (Kariniemi Park, Lahti, Finland) 20151004Arabiakeskus: Red berries on trees, approaching the Hämeentie Factory Block of the Arabia district, known for its long history in design. Are those rowan (mountain ash) trees? Attended the “Creating the Mindset of Sustainable Societies” class, one of the core courses in the Master’s Programme in Creative Sustainability at Aalto University. Caught afternoon student presentations on final day of class. Challenged to be critical when prior context of assignments wasn’t fully explained. Will see the students two more days this week. (Arabiakeskus, Helsinki, Finland) 20151006
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 order to move forward, the Systems Changes Learning Circle has taken a step backwards to appreciate the scholarly work that has come before us. This has included the Socio-Psychological Systems, Socio-Technical Systems and Socio-Ecological Systems perspective, from the postwar Tavistock Institute for Human Relations. The deep dive on “Causal texture, contextualism, contextural” takes us […]
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 […]
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 ›
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).
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).
