CCA UK South – How to bring systems thinking into coaching conversations

If a factory is torn down but the rationality which produced it is left standing, then that rationality will simply produce another factory. If a revolution destroys a government, but the systematic patterns of thought that produced that government are left intact, then those patterns will repeat themselves. . . . There’s so much talk about the system. And so little understanding.

—Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

In the session, inspired by the teachings of Donella Meadows, Nina will lead us through a reflective learning process on Systems Thinking.

We will talk about what Systems Thinking is, and what it’s not, and the rationalisation traps we fall into when problems are perceived to be too big or complex to deal with.

This session is designed to be practical, looking at ways in which we can look for opportunities to bring Systems Thinking into our coaching conversations, which will in turn, open the door to conversations on sustainability and climate change.

One of my purposes is to make you interested. Another of my purposes, the main one, is to give you a basic ability to understand and to deal with complex systems, even if your formal systems training begins and ends with this book.
—Donella Meadows, 1993

You don’t need to have read the book to participate in the session but should you want to here is a link

The systems-thinking lens allows us to reclaim our intuition about whole systems and hone our abilities to understand parts, see interconnections, ask “what-if” questions about possible future behaviours, and be creative and courageous about system redesign. Then we can use our insights to make a difference in ourselves and our world.