Systems Learning
An Introduction to Systems Learning
Thank you for opting to view our FREE 90-minute online course Free Your Thinking: An Introduction to Systems Learning.
During the six video tutorials (see links below), Martin Sandbrook will show you how to harness ‘Systems Learning’ to help you deal with complexity and uncertainty.
Each video comes in sections – supported by explanatory notes and suggested learning activities. Everything is explained ‘briefly’ first and then more ‘in depth’ to make the process easy and more enjoyable for you.
You will get the most out of the course by watching the videos in order. But feel free to dip in and out of each section, the navigation tool will return you to where you left off on your next visit.The Schumacher Institute created this course to make this thinking available to all, regardless of ability to pay. If you find it valuable, the Institute would value any contribution to its continuing work you feel able to make.
How do I see the world? And why is this important?
How you see the world - your worldview - affects everything you do. The lens through which you look at the world affects how you see it, and therefore what you do in it. It is, therefore, useful to develop an awareness of how you see the world.
How do we see the world? Is there a prevailing worldview?
Machines and technology dominate our lives, but do they also dominate our ways of thinking and acting in the world?
This word 'system' crops up in so many places. How do we recognise a system when we see one? Is there a way to define a system, do they actually exist or are they what we construct as a way to manage complex relationships?
How do we think about the world and relationships in a systemic way? What are the skills, techniques and attitudes that will help me to think in systems?
Making sense of different systems
Systems Thinking – so what next? How do we make sense of systems? We can start by asking what sort of system are we dealing with: simple, complicated, complex or even chaotic.
Analysing something usually means working with the benefit of hindsight, but systems are dynamic, always moving forwards; their context and elements constantly changing. It’s better to look for solutions to complex systems by looking forwards rather than back, by acting and experimenting.
A note of thanks and appreciation to the many teachers and writers whose ideas have shaped my own learning, in particular, the faculty of the MSc in Responsibility and Business Practice at the University of Bath. There are too many others to list here, but the references in each section show who they are and provide links to their work. For their wisdom, I am deeply grateful.
Thanks also to Triodos Bank, for providing us with a great venue to do the filming!