SystemsWiki

After spending the last 40+ years littering history with far more numerous creations than I can possible keep up with this project represents an attempt to put some order in the pieces that might be of some utility to others.

This is the Kumu project which can be Forked to create a new project with all the settings and types I use when creating relationship models. The attached videos provide an introduction to Kumu as well as the conventions and rationale I use when creating relationship models.

This is the Kumu project which can be Forked to create a new project with all the settings and types I use when creating relationship models. The attached videos provide an introduction to Kumu as well as the conventions and rationale I use when creating relationship models.

When we encounter a situation other than we consider it should be we typically refer to it as a problem though if we investigate intently we're likely to find the problem is seldom what it was initially perceived to be. This perspective presents a set of relationships I never thought about and as such, I ended up in a predicament I never saw coming.

This model unfolds Aesop's Fable, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, as a set of relationships and their influences. The intent is to demonstrate how easily we learn the wrong things from experience, and then use that learning as a belief governing future actions. Future actions, which only serve to confuse us when they don't produce the desired results. To quote Pogo, one more time, "We have met the enemy and he is us!"

Why is it that the behavior of politicians often seems so strange and confusing. While reading Ezra Klein's "Why Politics Makes Us Stupid" article I thought I had discovered a new systems archetype, though it turned out to be just a simple vicious reinforcing structure.

Crop Damage presents a synthesis of understanding distilled down to a single question... And? And what does this influence? And what influences this? This is based on an old Sufi saying, "Because you understand one, you think you understand two because one and one is two. But first, you have to understand AND."

Over the past 4+ decades of developing relationship models there have been numerous insights that would have served me well had I had them earlier along the journey. The associated relationship model is an attempt to surface those I've found most beneficial along with thoughts about how they might be related. The following link is to the video from the 20.07.10 session with Jerry Michalski's Open Global Mind group.

This version of the Crop Damage relationships represents an abstract created by converting each of the loops in the initial model into an element of the abstract model. With a model this simple the abstract isn't much of a simplification though in a much more elaborate model with multiple elements per loop the abstract should represent quite a simplification of the original model.

The Certified Systems Thinker Program presents what is considered the absolute essential understanding and skills necessary to develop a systemic perspective for situations of interest. This Systemic Perspective provides a basis for deeper understanding, insights and more effective action. The intent is to enable one to be more effective dealing with situations, while reducing the likelihood of creating unintended consequences making matters worse, or creating new problems in the process.

Are we suffering from corruption, oppression and poor education. Is it the inherent nature of the structure is to corrupt? And if that is the case, then isn't some explicit action required to avoid the inevitable? Though if the corrupting influence is in charge what's the likelihood that any action to avoid the inevitable will happen? Is there a way out other than complete economic meltdown and revolution?

We are suffering from corruption, oppression and bad education. It seems the inherent nature of the structure is to corrupt. And if that is the case then isn't some explicit action required to avoid the inevitable? Though if the corrupting influence is in charge what's the likelihood that any action to avoid the inevitable will happen? Is there a way out other than complete economic meltdown and revolution?

After a number of people had finished a newly created Certified Systems Thinker program and provided rave reviews several of them ask a question well worth pondering, and here's how the insight unfolded.

Visualization of Objectives findings from the first 5 year review of the WI CWD plan.

Using storytelling to communicate the insights and understanding associated with relationship models.

Second try at creating a culture map and showing those connections that will accelerate culture development

Second try at creating a culture map and showing those connections that will accelerate culture development

This is a migration of the Google Docs version of the process initially created in the Group Modeling sessions the beginning of June 2019.

This model will endeavor to provide a sense of how to begin with an apparent problem and research the relationships to evolve a relationship model that can be used to convey the current level of understanding.

AUSTRALIA'S TAX-ADVANTAGED, compulsory, private superannuation system – the jewel in the crown of the legacy of the Hawke/Keating era – is an innocent fraud. The system was introduced with the best of intentions, but it doesn’t do what it was supposed to do.

A common mental model relative to software reliability is ... "Yes, we could design highly reliable software. The problem is we can't afford it. It will take too long and cost too much. Our most important priority is to get the product to market. If we don't get our product to market quickly, we won't make sales and profit; and, after all, profit is what counts the most."

This is one of the diagram types presented in Thinking with Flying Logic and the following image is from page 33.

This project is the focal point for the synthesizing multiple conversations as to what improves the likelihood that a learning community endeavor will provide meaningfulness to the participants of the community.

From reading Why Politics Makes Us Stupid by Ezra Klein I though I had discovered a new archetype though it's really just a simple reinforcing structure, or so it seems.

A mind map is an approach to elaborating thoughts around a central concept and then further refining them into more and more detail as appropriate to investigate what's relevant to the concept.

"People naturally network as they work so why not model work itself as a network?" This quote from Verna Allee's ValueNet Works website sort of says it all though the website goes on to further define, "A value network is any set of roles and interactions that generates a specific kind of business, economic, or social good. Value network modeling provides a human-centric, role-based, network view of any business activity."

Any map which presents some relationship between two or more elements is essentially a relationship map. The bare minimum is to depict the elements and define what the relationship is between them. In this particular case, in case you don't recognize it, it's Aesop's Fable, "The Boy Who Cried Wolf."

Present relevant aspects of reality that we've come to understand from experiments in this area over the past several years. That learning and understanding provide a basis for more effective approaches for the elements of Creating The Future as presented in Finding theWay.

Kumu is an evolving web-based environment to promote understanding relationships and their implications. This learning module provides an exposure to the myriad of Kumu features. The thought is that if you're aware of the features there is a greater likelihood you will use them to derive the greater benefit from your models.

Model demonstrating using Kumu to keep track of a network of people and how the connections were develop.

Relationships between Partner's Health and Productivity. V3 was created to merge FS Emotional State and FS Vital Energy based on feedback from a psychotherapist.

An experiment to better understand the possibility of crowdsourcing a model associated with homelessness.

While it's rather straight forward to invest money in places that generate interest over time why isn't that more of us don't do that and become rich? What follows is one thought on that situation.

This is a revision for a rather ancient article originally titled Victims of the System or Systems of the Victim. The premise being that we often find ourselves in situations where we perceive that we are the victims of the system. As the perspective unfolds the intent is to show that, more often than not, we perceive ourselves to be the victim of the system, when in fact the system is one of our own creation that we simply don't understand.

This perspective demonstrates that we are embedded in a larger system, and unless we realize it, and act accordingly, we are likely to be the victim of it. This perspectives was adopted from John Sterman's Introduction to System Dynamics course at MIT.

We tend to live very busy lives and often there is a belief that by learning and employing Time Management techniques we can effectively deal with the overload in our lives. Can we really? Might there be a very different answer?

Looking to better understand my Linkedin connections. Nodes, Hubs, Job Titles, Access, Reach, Patterns

This overall systems map combines the three sub maps. This map does not recreate all the loops of the other maps, but refers to their numbers. Yes, this map is complex – just as Hawaii is complex. We believe a thoughtful study of this map will help you better understand Hawaii and suggest ways to improve its quality of life. This version was updated to double clicking on an element opens the subloop in a lightbox.

Since the beginning of time we've practiced a linear economy where we take, make, use, and dispose. And, we've done this with a mindset that this can essentially continue unhindered. Though on a finite planet there is a limit to the extent that this can continue as the impossible hamster will demonstrate. The Circular Economy is a more sensible way to operate which will enable us to survive indefinitely into the future.

This model investigates the influences which currently work in opposition to sustainable capitalism. The model then presents a view that might actually promote sustainable capitalism.

This project was used for the Group Modeling (Part I) session on 19.05.30. We'll see where we go from here.

Effective Storytelling embodies a clear insight compressed in time presented in a manner which provokes thought as a basis for insights to deal with perplexing situations.

The intent of this module is to take learning from the Dealing with Reality module and apply it to the relationships presented in Creating the Future module and present a process which is highly likely to overcome the shortcomings typically experienced from employing the Creating the Future model.

Considering the concepts provided Relationships 101 I thought it best to provide a few example structures and demonstrate how they're labeled to tell stories.

Given an organizational tension between two individuals, groups, or organizations, i.e, two or more entities are constantly at odds with each other over lots of things, all related to their day to day operation, there is typically more than one approach to dealing with the situation and what's the likelihood that we deal with it effectively?

Here are some initial thoughts on using Kumu to connect multi-threaded discussions in a single structure.

Nature Understands: Why don't we listen? is a presentation created for Skillsfest 4.0.

An introduction to the current state of Systems Thinking World along with a short history of the relentless pursuit of understanding relationships and their implications that got us here.

This project is the basis for a presentation delivered at Skillsfest on 17.08.02 about my personal evolution from being a systems thinker to being a storyteller of relationships and their implications.

While all of the content will sooner or later become public this project provides a single point of access for all the projects developed or revised subsequent to the launch of the Patron option. Content will be surfaced here as it is being developed.

How the development of a relationship model promotes understanding and insights as a basis for more effective action dealing with a situation.

The Systems Map for the Article: “Garden instead of Concrete: How Paris meets Climate Change”. The map shows an overview of the key variable, the important factors and their causal relations. Positive link polarity (blue) means the impacted variable moves in the same direction as the driving variable (e.g. the higher the attractiveness of cars the more cars in use). Negative link polarity (red dashed) indicates that the impacted variable moves in the opposite direction (e.g. the higher the congestion the lower the attractiveness of cars). The described policies by the city of Paris are colored in yellow. This model was initially developed by Gian Wieck.

This is the same diagram as the Relationship Map with images added to the elements in the hopes of connecting better with the intended audience.

This hybrid diagram is essentially the Causal Loop Diagram merged with the Rich Picture which may end up being better than either or simply overkill depending on how it strikes you.

While this is the same set of relationships there is advantage for those familiar with causal loop diagrams. That advantage being that they have an expectation as to how the diagram is put together and are comfortable reading the diagram as long as it follows the standard conventions.

Network Magic is a small high-tech startup which has brought a very functional family of network routers to market at a price point very attractive to the market. As such they are growing rapidly and experiencing all kinds of growing pains. The model unfolds a set of relationships detailing what seems to be the current most sticky wicket

This project was thrown together as an example of what might be done in Kumu as a repository for OGM Modeling Software candidates for various undertakings. If you're going to contribute directly to this project please watch the video.

The goal of the Madison Initiative is to help create the conditions in which Congress and its members can deliberate, negotiate, and compromise in ways that work for most Americans. This requires that Congress represent and balance the diverse and often conflicting array of interests, ideas, and agendas of the American people; that the public believes in the legitimacy of the process through which Congress is working; and that the process can support the refinement and improvement of past decisions as new circumstances arise.

This is a migration of the Google Docs version of the process initially created in the Group Modeling sessions the beginning of June 2019.

It is essential that you have a sense of the purpose of the map and develop it with that end in mind. A good model serves its purpose. Everything else is just a waste of time. The following video presents an overview of the model.

A not so informative version of The Boy Who Cried Wolf created specifically for the Kumu Storytelling program.

Crop Damage presents a synthesis of understanding distilled down to a single question... And? And what does this influence? And what influences this? This is based on an old Sufi saying, "Because you understand one, you think you understand two because one and one is two. But first, you have to understand AND."

People often comment that they are overwhelmed by causal relationships and causal relationship diagrams. I expect that the two basic reasons for this are 1) the relationships were never well defined, and 2) relationship maps are typically presented in a manner that asks of people the equivalent of eating an elephant in a single bite. I'm not surprised by the typical result.

This perspective presents the Balancing Structure, one of the two types of structures which make up all relationship models, the other being the Reinforcing Structure. I've presented the definition of causal relationships on numerous occasions though this time I'm gonna try to develop the relationship model and then summarize the relationship after. I'm thinking the relationship might be better understood after a context for it is provided.

This perspective presents the Reinforcing Structure, one of the two types of structures which make up all relationship models, the other being the Balancing Structure. I've presented the definition of causal relationships on numerous occasions though this time I'm gonna try to develop the relationship model and then summarize the relationship after. I'm thinking the relationship might be better understood after a context for it is provided.

What constitutes a sustainable localized food system for a rural community? Source as local as possible from locally owned and operated to benefit the community.

The city of Bergen has a goal of becoming fossil-free in 2030. How do we get there? Some weeks ago, local experts from different domains came together and developed a causal loop diagram (CLD). This will form the skeleton for the modelling hackathon.

An overview of the structure of the Kumu environment with additional maps as appropriate to explain concepts covered along the way.

An introduction to Kumu which I hope is sufficient for others to begin developing relationship models without having to wade through all the initial Kumu understanding.

Using storytelling to communicate the insights and understanding associated with relationship models. Created for a presentation at one of Deeanna Burleson's Systems Thinking sessions.

The following is an elaboration of an idea which has been kicking around for quite some time and I just wanted to get it roughed out so I didn't lose it. The idea has to do with a perception that management is essentially a push operation while leadership is a pull operation. As I try to think about where the concept originated it seems to be something which emerged from De Pree (1989). Although there were many things about this work which were memorable there were two particular ones that have stuck very profoundly.

The world we experience today is the result of yesterday's actions and we create the future based on today's actions, and sometimes inaction. This model investigates relationships which describe the manner in which we create the future based on our understanding or lack thereof.

This map was developed from the Interconnectedness of World Problems Map developed by Fritjof Capra based on Plan B 3.0 by Lester Brown. While this map is significantly less detailed than Capra's the point missing from Capra's map what that it's likely to take the Unraveling of Civilization to finally bring about a change in the Unlimited Growth Belief which is actually a sad state of affairs.

And escalation structure is one where the results to one party is perceived as a threat to another. As such the 2nd party takes action to improve its results relative to the first party. This is then perceived as a threat to the first party. And the struggle evolves.

We often deal with situations in a manner which makes them worse or creates new situations which have to be dealt with after the current situation is addressed. It is often said that today's problems are the direct result of yesterday's solutions. One might claim we are the poster children for Pogo's "We have met the enemy and he is us!"

Systems Thinking World was established by and for those who believe a systemic perspective provides the best foundation for creating effective approaches for dealing with challenges and shaping a better tomorrow. Our purpose is to create content, foster interactions and to apply systems thinking to further an understanding of a systemic perspective to enable thinking and acting systemically.

The establishment of a goal is generally based on some place, or some state, one wants to be at in the future, as compared to where one is currently in the present. The variance, or gap, between the current state and the desired future state, the goal, is then used to create motivation for the activity required to transform the current state into the goal. The difficulty here lies in the systemic nature of the structure which is created from the underlying mental model. What happens at the end of a 100 yard dash? The finish line has been reached and the runners stop! This is a general tendency which accompanies goals, and when the activity is dependent on the distance from the goal, the situation is actually even worse than with a 100 yard dash.

A dialogue map, also sometimes referred to as an IBIS diagram, is a way to structure a discussion so that all perspectives are captured and considered along with the perceived pros and cons of each idea.

Consider the situation being that you're responsible for a project where the Expected Completion Date for the project is later than the prescribed Deadline. This perspective considers options available to get the project back on track?

Investigation into the application of Systems Thinking to deal with situation or understand a topic started on 19.06.20.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are stressful or traumatic events that children experience before age 18, such as violence at home, neglect, abuse, or having a parent with mental illness or substance dependence.

Here I offer what I consider to be a systemic perspective differentiating leadership and management based on the structures they foster rather than the particular activities they promote.

A production environment of an organization, which has experienced a rather steady performance for a period of time, is suddenly presented with an increased performance requirement. This perspective will investigate the implications of that increased performance requirement from the organization's options of choosing to work harder, or work smarter, to satisfy the new performance requirement.

This model maps the capabilities in the ecosystem. What is the difference between the organizational process model and the ecosystem model?

Relationships between Partner's Health and Productivity.

Investigations into the relationships responsible for the success and failure of nations. This investigation was prompted after reading numerous references on the subject and arriving at a perception that the premises put forth in Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty by Acemoglu and Robinson seem to make a great deal of sense, though not considered to be the only meaningful perspective, and seems to warrant investigation.

This project was developed for at the basis for a California Green Academy web presentation on 2017.11.02

A person has a potential and if one is living toward that potential they are flourishing. Generative seems to be an emergent property of flourishing people working together.

We act based on our beliefs and when those actions don't produce the expected results our typical response it to do the same things that didn't work even harder. This model presents the essence of Allan Savory's TED Talk on greening the world's deserts and reversing climate change.

Poverty in a rural area in the Less-Developed-Country (LDC) which is causing political and social unrest is often the center of a quick fix intended to relieve the situation. Though how often do quick fixes often last?

Consider the situation with a sales environment where it is perceived that interaction with the customer and closing the sale is very contingent on pre-sales support personnel that are very familiar with the product being sold. Given this situation there is more than one approach to dealing with the situation, one short-term quick fix, and one longer term resolution. And which do you think is more often selected?

An investigation into influences driving the changes in oil prices the beginning of 2016. Note there is a Typical Behavior and Current Behavior map.

This perspective investigates what are perceived to the be the the most significant influences on the price of oil and their implications.

An investigation into the ways humans create a context that creates poverty. This is also intended to be an example of how the content of articles actually has a systemic structure which may be expressed as one or more unfolding relationship models.

A government facing a tax revenue shortfall might conclude that an immediate remedy might be to increase taxes on something. Here's one example of unintended consequences from an effort to do just that.

One of the most important considerations for any business is the development of a strategy for continued existence and future growth. Sustainable business requires identification and development of a competitive advantage that is recognizable by potential customers and transforms them into actual customers. Google's strategy is amazingly straightforward and powerful in it's simplicity.

See webpage for datasets. In his book, Piketty combines income, inheritance, and national wealth data toreach a striking conclusion. Capitalism concentrates riches at the top of society, Piketty argues, because the rate of return to capital (labeled r) is higher than the overall rate of economic growth (labeled g) over the long run. This simple formula (r > g) means that families who own capital tend to acquire more and more wealth.This pattern broke down, Piketty concedes, in the mid-20th century. Two world wars and the Great Depression destroyed a huge swath of Western wealth. Following World War II, as nations began to rebuild, they distributed the new wealth more equitably, Piketty finds. Aid programs and progressive tax schemes also decreased inequality, while a concurrent rise in industrial productivity and a population boom boosted economies and benefited the middle class. This golden era lasted roughly from 1950 to 1980, triggering a pause in the concentration of wealth.

Teacher cheating on standardized tests is a recurring theme in recent national headlines, ranging from teachers looking at tests in advance to develop study guides, to teachers and administrators erasing and correcting student answers after they have submitted tests. The media and the school communities have responded to these stories with shock and out-rage, often vilifying individual teachers and administrators.

The typical response to road congestion is to build more roads, or expand the current roads. In time the road congestion just seems to get worse than it was. We often ask whether the department of transportation has any clue as to what it's doing because they just seem to make the situation worse.

Revolutions typically don't happen all at once. Like companies going out of business they typically happen slowly over an extended period of time, and then all at once. This perspective is based on a Benjamin Franklin Correspondence from May 15, 1771.

Conflict is something we've seldom learned how to deal with well, and as such, when it arises we tend to employ the most expedient means possible to get it to go away. Seldom though do our expedient approaches actually lead to the desired result in the longer term. This perspective provides an insight as to how not to deal with protests.

Food activists desire more farmers markets as a way to eventually revolutionize the food system though effecting the desire can often have unintended consequences.

As wealth disparity continues to grow others migrate in the opposite direction. This results in a growing rate of homelessness in America, and in other countries. Hundreds of thousands of men, women and children are put onto the streets every year. And, it seems the typical approaches endeavoring to deal with this situation are not helping. Typical approaches may actually be making things worse.

With the release of new products the sales and marketing organization endeavors to move the products into the market. Product quality, advertising and potential market size are factors which figure into the success of this effort. Typically efforts create growing success and then when the same efforts fail to produce continued growth people become confused. Usually this happens because of something that isn't understood about the market.

As our continuing increases in water consumption outstrip the carrying capacity of the sources is there any real question as to the inevitability of this insanity? Specific examples of this are the state of the Ogallala Aquifer in the Midwest and current conditions in China.

Investigation of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) as to whether it is really Myopic Monetary Theory since it doesn't address the cause of the problem it seeks to fix.

If you’re in the American middle class—or what’s left of it—here’s how you probably feel. You feel like you’re struggling harder than your parents did, working longer hours than ever before, and yet falling further and further behind. The reason you feel this way is because most of you are—falling further behind, that is. Adjusted for inflation, average salaries have actually dropped since the early 1970s, while hours for full-time workers have steadily climbed.

This is the first in a series of articles endeavoring to explore some apparent misinterpretations about the economy and some questions that if we asked them might put us on a path to improving the situation.

There are an endless array of perceptions about the economy, most of which are completely unfounded. The difficulty with these unfounded perceptions is that there are those in a position to create socio-economic policy, and they support the creation of those policies based on their unfounded perceptions. The typical result of flawed socio-economic policy implementation is that the operating environment is degraded for all. This particular project presents the economic sector model which I believe should raise a number of questions. One specific one is raised at the end of the presentation.

This is an old project using the old data model where data is shared across maps. If I need another project in the future that does that then fork this one to create the project.

The Munro Review of Child Protection: Part One: A Systems Analysis

Effective Solutions might be referred to as an interactive learning environment or an evolving collaborative problem-solving environment. It presents a basis for why we typically create solutions which are only temporary, solutions which make the situation worse or create new problems that have to be dealt with. Effective Solutions then provides an approach for developing solutions which engage the relevant stakeholders in creating enduring solutions which don't create new solutions in the process.

This project is to demonstrate how to embed almost anything in a web page or wiki using the YouTube embed script.

This project was developed as the basis for a Disruptive Innovation Festival web presentation on 2017.11.08.

This is a basic Kumu model which can be Forked to create a new project with all the appropriate settings for creating relationship models consistent with the presentation used in And? It's All Connected.

Oh so often we undertake efforts to change the way things are and for a while it seems that our efforts produce results. Then at some point we seem to get distracted by more pressing urgent issues. As we begin to focus on new issues the gains we had made to institute change seem to fade away into the past as things begin to return to they way they were, and there little if any evidence that we ever made progress to being with.

This is from a webinar which engages participants in an exploration of ways that systems thinking can help leaders take a more collaborative approach to developing strategic plans and school improvement plans. Carrie and Brett share examples of how they used systems thinking strategies and tools to create and grow an organization that is a dynamic and engaged community of learners.

The intent of this model is to demonstrate how it is that intuiting dynamic behavior is typically beyond the capacity of our intuition.

Partial recreation of the ["What is Resilience" Systemigram][1] from [boardmansauser.com][2]

A polarity map for the Virtuous and Vicious cycles within the Cost vs Service polarity map. Click on the red and blue elements for a description of the polarities.