Systems Practice helps make sense and bring about clarity of complex environments to make substantial social impact on a community or global scale. A method to push beyond the immediate problems to see the underlying patterns and how to learn and adapt the system to change.
Name of Method
Brief description
By doing a challenged-based systems map, individuals can map out problems and issues, reflect on them, and create loops to develop themes. They then present the map to experts and stakeholders and reflect on the map by creating solutions and ways to tackle the issues presented on the map.
Type/Level of Method
Challenges
Problem, Purpose and Needs
To understand and see the underlying patterns, the ability to embrace the complexity.
To determine whether a given challenge could adopt a systems practice approach, one can look at the following questions:
What is the nature of the challenge?
- If the problem and the solution are not clear and well understood, a systems practice may be suitable.
How are people engaging with the challenge?
- If there are different opinions and even possible conflicts among experts and stakeholders, a systems practice may be suitable.
What is the nature of the environment?
- If there are various interconnections between the problem and the larger environment, a systems practice may be suitable.
What is the nature of your intended goal?
- If the goal is to make sustained change on a bigger scale, a systems practice may be suitable.
Relevance to Climate Neutrality
Challenges
Thematic Areas
Impact Goals
Issue Complexity
Issue Polarisation
Enabling Condition
Essential Considerations for Commissioning Authorities
Engagement Journey
Governance Models and Approaches
Enabling Conditions
Democratic Purpose
Spectrum of participation
Communication Channels
Actors and Stakeholder Relationships
Once the team has worked on their systems map, they then identify any gaps and uncertainties in the map. They then make a list of possible stakeholders and experts to contact to help test the map. The experts and stakeholders are presented the map, then they give feedback on questions the team has and may help edit/test the map out.
Participant Numbers
Actors and Stakeholders
Participant Recruitment
Interaction between participants
Format
Social Innovation Development Stage
Scope
Time commitment
Internal
- 2-4 weeks of work over 1-3 months
- This approach relies mainly on existing team experience and outside input is limited
- It's not critical to have external engagement
Hybrid
- 6-8 weeks of work over 3-6 months
- There is both internal research and outside participants
- There can be some external relationship building
Highly participatory
- 9-11 weeks of work over 6-12 months
- Knowledge is mainly acquired through participatory processes
- External relationship building is important for this approach
Resources and Investments
- The core team should consist of 2 to 4 people who do the day-to-day work and are responsible for the planning of the process.
- An extended team can be made up of 3 to 10 people from the organisation (implementing the systems practice) and a few external experts and partners who help the core team with subejct matter expertise.
- Finally, participants can be part of focus groups or provide knowledge and expertise on a topic. The number of participants can be between 10 and up to 200 participants, but that depends on what is required from the work.
- Often systems practice has up to 15 actors.
Typical duration
Resources and Investments
In-house
Step by Step
1. Launch: Form a team and acquire systems practice fundamentals, plan for journey
- Set goals by developing a guiding star (desired future system) and near star (5-to 10-year goal). Develop a framing question to help the team focus on understanding the system being analysed.
2. Clarity: Develop a deeper understanding of the system, build a map to capture key forces and patterns
- Illuminate the forces that cause the system to behave as it does. Look at the data you have and then group forces into themes.
- Then, analyse causes and effects through SAT analysis (Structural, Attitudinal, Transactional).
- Look for patterns in the forces.
- Discover the deep structure: a unification of different loops.
- Build the map of the factors and loops: on paper with pencils or on Kumu.
- There is no specific size for the map, but aim to have 15-30 loops (groups that share similar concepts).
- Share the map to experts and stakeholders, allow them to test and edit the map.
3. Leverage: Explore opportunities to engage the system that could push it toward greater health
- Print the map (if done on Kumu).
- Put the map on a wall/place that can be easily read from. Then participants should look and read the map, and briefly describe to themselves how the system currently functions.
- Develop a systemic problem statement: a concise description of current disliked qualities of the system.
- Discuss with the team the brief descriptions and seek consensus on the way to describe the current system.
- Develop ideas on how to have a leveraged impact on the system.
- Prioritise potential leverage areas based on the likelihood of targeted impact.
4. Act strategically: Design and implement an approach
- Start thinking of ways to develop a coherent systems-change strategy.
- Create assessment methods and indicators.
5. Learn and adapt: Learn and sense from the system and adapt accordingly
- Deeply reflect of learning and possibly update the map.
Evaluation
Connecting Methods
Flexibility and Adaptability
Existing Guidelines and Best Practice
References and Further Resources
Systems Practice. The Omidyar Group. Retrieved from https://docs.kumu.io/content/Workbook-012617.pdf
Prescott, S. (2017, November 1). Systems Practice: what resources do you find useful? CoLab Dudley. Retrieved from https://medium.com/colab-dudley/systems-practice-what-resources-do-you-find-useful-76ee38111e17
Systems Practice. Learn to use a systems thinking approach to move from “impossible” to impact. Acumen Academy. Retrieved from https://acumenacademy.org/course/systems-practice/
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