(Activity 2.8)
Ison* (2010, chapter 13) discusses a systems view of valuing and evaluation. Before, I try and summarise these views, I thought it would be good to take stock of where my understanding is starting from. Continue reading
(Activity 2.6)
It seems it is important that I get my head around this question. I have decided to do it through iterative questioning – in problem solving, there is a way of looking at causes called the 5 Whys – essentially you keep asking why to every level of answer. I am going to use a similiar approach but ask “And, what do I do when I do that?” to see how far I get. Continue reading
TU812 is structured in a way to help me to to conduct a systemic inquiry into my own systems practice for managing change. I have commented on this in An inquiry into my systems practice for managing change.
However the module also encourages me to identify a situation of concern that I can also apply systemic inquiry to. I have really struggled with identifying a situation of concern – narrowing something down from just a generalised ‘my work’ into something that is more subject to investigation.
Part of the reason for this is outlined in my post Writer’s Block – telling sticky stories in which I am a player does not come easily to me.
But I have I have finally had the – aha – moment. I have realised my situation of concern has been staring me in the face all along – I have even posted about an occasion when I took purposeful activity to act in this situation of concern (Elevator Pitch). Continue reading
(Activity 2.4)
I want to use this post to pull together thoughts so far on Systemic Inquiry. I am not sure whether I have thoughts of my own yet – it is all about distilling, making sense of and grasping what has been presented in TU812 course materials – Open University (2010)* and Ison (2010)**. Continue reading
(Activity 2.2)
In my last post, I ended up by saying that I often think too big about the situations I want to address – global warning, world peace, health inequalities and the entire UK public sector! I suppose that is consistent with the approach to use of Systems in TU811 – there we worked on situations requiring strategic interventions and our assignments focused on distant news stories.
That approach does not seem right for TU812, where there is much more of a focus on you as a practitioner in everyday situations. I therefore need to think more local, more immediate…..well more….everyday. Continue reading
(Activity 2.1)
It is interesting that Ray Ison* uses the introduction of a IT ‘solution’ as his example of a sticky situation. So far, my fellow students have also used IT examples. Is it really that IT introductions fail more than other changes or that these situations are easier to remember than sticky situations only involving humans. These are the everyday sticky situations, I can think of: Continue reading
My first routine use of the word “practice” was when I had piano lessons as a kid. Practice was about repetition – playing the same pieces again and again until somehow they became easier to do. My husband is currently studying the OU’s Beginner’s French course – there seems to be a lot of practice in that – partly the motor skills of pronunciation but again lots of repetition until it ‘goes in’. So I suppose at its most basic level, the word “practice” is about becoming much more familiar with doing something so that it becomes a more natural part of your skill set. I think that one of the reasons I have chosen to study Systems Practice is so that I can practice it – to keep using it so it is a much more natural part of the way I think and do. Continue reading
One of the activities in Part 1 of TU812 asks us to draw a Trajectory diagram that shows our points of entry to the module. Effectively, how is it we got here.
In my Trajectory diagram, I have a note ‘first exposure to word systems – King’s Fund work in Newcastle using whole systems’. It set me thinking… Continue reading
It’s funny how things go in circles:
– my blog on ‘Elevator pitch‘ kickstarted a thread in TU812 course cafe forum about introducing new things into an organisation. Another student commented there about the cultural receptiveness to change.
– my blog on ‘Change‘ kickstarted a thread in Systems Place about innovation.
These two threads reminded me of something I covered in B822 Creativity, Innovation and Change. Continue reading
I am sure I am not the only ‘systems practitioner’-in-training who finds it difficult to introduce systems practice into their workplace. I think it is different if you are an ‘external’ consultant or facilitator because clients expect you to bring something that they don’t know yourself. But when you are an employee, colleagues (especially people who are more senior than yourself) don’t really expect you to innovate on how to do or think about things, just what you do.
So I try to do it by subterfuge. A little bit here, a little bit there. But the other day, I missed an opportunity because I was not prepared. Continue reading