---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Dante-Gabryell Monson <[email protected]> Date: Sun, Mar 13, 2011 at 10:09 PM Subject: "Systems Change" : recurring properties and processes ? To: http://www.ecoliteracy.org/essays/seven-lessons-leaders-systems-change <http://www.ecoliteracy.org/essays/seven-lessons-leaders-systems-change>*note - found via Paul, via "coalition" list : http://groups.google.com/group/coalition?hl=en , march 11* excerpts : Living systems have their own dynamics. Observing systems reveals recurring properties and processes. They resist change, but they also develop, adapt, and evolve. Understanding how systems maintain themselves and how they change has very practical consequences that go to the heart of education for sustainable living. ... *Lesson #1: To promote systems change, foster community and cultivate networks*. Most of the qualities of a living system, notes Fritjof Capra, are aspects of a single fundamental network pattern: nature sustains life by creating and nurturing communities. Lasting change frequently requires a critical mass or density of interrelationships within a community. ... *Lesson #2: Work at multiple levels of scale.* *"*Nested systems" is a core ecological principle. Like Russian "matryoshka" dolls that fit one into the other, most systems contain other systems and are contained within larger systems: cells within organs within individuals within communities ... *Lesson #3: Make space for self-organization.* Fritjof Capra writes, "Perhaps *the* central concept in the systems view of life" is that the pattern favored by life "is a network pattern capable of self-organization." He adds, "Life constantly reaches out into novelty, and this property of all living systems is the origin of development, learning, and evolution." Networks that can effect systems change will sometimes self-organize if you set up the right conditions. ... *Lesson #4: Seize breakthrough opportunities when they arise.* Remember the adage of former White House Chief of Staff (now Chicago Mayor-elect) Rahm Emanuel: "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.* "* ... *Lesson #5: Facilitate — but give up the illusion that you can direct — change.* "We never succeed in directing or telling people how they must change," observes Margaret Wheatley. "We don't succeed by handing them a plan, or pestering them with our interpretations, or relentlessly pressing forward with our agenda, believing that volume and intensity will convince them to see it our way." So what can you do? In the provocative maxim of Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela, "You can never direct a living system. You can only disturb it." How do you disturb a system? By introducing information that contradicts old assumptions. By demonstrating that things people believe they can't do are already being accomplished somewhere (one of the objectives of our book *Smart by Nature: Schooling for Sustainability*<http://www.ecoliteracy.org/books/smart-nature-schooling-sustainability>). By inviting new people into the conversation. By rearranging structures so that people relate in ways they're not used to. By presenting issues from different perspectives. Meanwhile, you can create conditions that take advantage of the system's capacity for generating creative solutions. Nurture networks of connection and communication, create climates of trust and mutual support, encourage questioning, and reward innovation. ... *Lesson #6: Assume that change is going to take time* *Anticipate that you'll need time for the education and training required for people to change attitudes, adopt new practices, or use new tools. Set high goals, but take manageable steps. Look for intermediate achievements that allow people to experience — and celebrate — success and to receive recognition on the way to the ultimate goal.* *...* ** *Lesson #7: Be prepared to be surprised.* *Change in living systems is nonlinear. As they develop and evolve, living systems generate phenomena that are not predictable from the properties of their individual parts* -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens