Great piece, John! I love how you've gone beyond the usual "paste in the 12 leverage points" and, instead, addressed how each of them applies in the domain of software engineering. That you also synthesise her ideas with your own experience and wider reading—from the practicality of Dominica DeGrandis and "making work visible" to the higher-order ideas of David Marquet, Frederic Laloux and others—shows the depth of your approach.
Good luck, as ever, with your mission, which seems encapsulated in this phrase of yours: "It involves cultivating a flexible mindset that remains open to innovative solutions, continuously learning, and encouraging emerging thinking, and combining and integrating methodologies to suit situational demands."
I've heard of him but have not read any of his works. Where would you say is the best place to start with Stafford Beer? I love diving down new rabbit holes.
Prepare yourself for one hell of a rabbit hole! Sadly his books are out of print so can be quite expensive however there's a good website, metaphorum.org, run by the lady that taught me on my Masters. That has plenty of links and a reading list. Enjoy!
After Reading all comments (👍🙏), let me add: to me, the Most interesting Contemporary input for System thinkers is The „Free Energy Principle“ by the math/neuroscience Profs. Karl Friston & Mark Solms.
Also I love that John‘s thoughts Go beyond the actual beef“ between people dealing with the agile Agency is becoming Part of PMi. Today, have have to Go beyond methologys and rethink how we measure and achieve good work together.
Thanks for this! I learnt a lot about systems thinking from our Engineering teams, have spent the last few years trying to apply this to organisational change. It’s great to get some SW specific examples of the leverage points.
Donella Meadow's quote about enlightenment is captivating. I'm currently reading Nassim Taleb's Antifragile, the ideas you've put forward here seem aligned with his (particularly in reference to non-linearities). If you've not already read it, you'd probably enjoy his insights!
Great piece, John! I love how you've gone beyond the usual "paste in the 12 leverage points" and, instead, addressed how each of them applies in the domain of software engineering. That you also synthesise her ideas with your own experience and wider reading—from the practicality of Dominica DeGrandis and "making work visible" to the higher-order ideas of David Marquet, Frederic Laloux and others—shows the depth of your approach.
Good luck, as ever, with your mission, which seems encapsulated in this phrase of yours: "It involves cultivating a flexible mindset that remains open to innovative solutions, continuously learning, and encouraging emerging thinking, and combining and integrating methodologies to suit situational demands."
Very interesting. Have you read any of Stafford Beer's work?
I've heard of him but have not read any of his works. Where would you say is the best place to start with Stafford Beer? I love diving down new rabbit holes.
Prepare yourself for one hell of a rabbit hole! Sadly his books are out of print so can be quite expensive however there's a good website, metaphorum.org, run by the lady that taught me on my Masters. That has plenty of links and a reading list. Enjoy!
Thanks a lot for these thoughts!
After Reading all comments (👍🙏), let me add: to me, the Most interesting Contemporary input for System thinkers is The „Free Energy Principle“ by the math/neuroscience Profs. Karl Friston & Mark Solms.
Also I love that John‘s thoughts Go beyond the actual beef“ between people dealing with the agile Agency is becoming Part of PMi. Today, have have to Go beyond methologys and rethink how we measure and achieve good work together.
I've just lined up a few YouTube videos around the Free Energy Principle - thanks for the suggestion.
Have you noticed approaches to use the FEP in IT contexts?
Excellent article. I’d heard of the book, but now I have to read it. Thanks!
Thanks for this! I learnt a lot about systems thinking from our Engineering teams, have spent the last few years trying to apply this to organisational change. It’s great to get some SW specific examples of the leverage points.
Donella Meadow's quote about enlightenment is captivating. I'm currently reading Nassim Taleb's Antifragile, the ideas you've put forward here seem aligned with his (particularly in reference to non-linearities). If you've not already read it, you'd probably enjoy his insights!
Great post, thanks for putting it together.