Thinking out loud…
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On being a systems entrepreneur
How do we move forward in an uncertain world? A systems entrepreneur recognises that whatever their interests and various areas of expertise, they are moving forward into an unknown world.… Read more
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On the challenges with programming to fix things
Until recently I didn’t appreciate why the innovation programmes my team runs in communities in South Sudan and Guatemala were quite so different from the norm in the humanitarian sector,… Read more
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On things evolving as they should
It’s always been a fascination to me that even the simplest action can have unknowable and unpredictable consequences, as the ripples from an event eventually reach shores invisible to the… Read more
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On Pilgrims and Explorers
In a documentary I recently watched, a scientist, incidentally working at the time with Stephen Hawking and others inquiring into the nature of black holes, said something I found interesting.… Read more
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On replacing job descriptions with problem descriptions
It is one thing when you can clearly specify in detail the requirements you have for a new employee, generally captured in a Job Description. It’s quite another challenge to… Read more
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On the challenges for curious generalists
The curious generalist blends ideas and practices from different domains and sources to generate new insights that have the potential to upend existing beliefs, patterns, assumptions and, as a result,… Read more
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On the kairos moment: seven reasons ideas can flounder on the rocks of reality
Isn’t it curious how the same idea, raised in two different times and contexts, can have completely different responses? We even have phrases for this, like ‘an idea whose time… Read more
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On the comfort of strategic plans
I’ve previously talked about challenges to the existing paradigm of organisational structure, management and operation. I want to explore this further with the idea that strategy can offer comfort in… Read more
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On the archeology of systems change (a personal journey, part 2)
In part 1 I shared my personal introduction to systems thinking and the conclusion I reached that there were some systems when it simply made no sense to me to… Read more
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On the archeology of systems change (a personal journey, part 1)
What do we mean by systems change? Where does ‘system’ as a concept even show up in our language? Economic and political systems. Energy, food, agricultural systems. Ecological, of course,… Read more
Categories:
- Autobiographical + Spiritual (22)
- Behaviour + Incentives (25)
- Change + Innovation (67)
- Collaboration + Teams (29)
- Geography+Community (60)
- Governance + Decisions (37)
- Outcomes + Evaluation (33)
- Performance + Productivity (29)
- Strategy + Foresight (45)
- Systems + Complexity (59)
Ian Burbidge. 