Generating Insight

Working on living systems requires the ability to adopt different perspectives. Oftentimes, habitual/ automatic thinking can constrain the degree to which we can see into the true nature of the systems we are working with. Intervening from such constrained visibility can lead to systemic dysfunction. Addressing these dysfunctions, it is easy to be drawn into seemingly perpetual cycles of tending to symptoms rather than underlying causes. By adopting multiple perspectives, considerately, and with the quality of integration, we can more readily see where the most effective contributions can be made to unlock and act-out pathways toward greater systemic health.

1. In trying to engage in regenerative design practice, whereby we are working on complex systems, the language used may at times be complex and/ or require speaking to a high-level of complexity.
2. A lot of questions are intended to feel like there is no immediately obvious answer. In our facilitation, we try to guide participants to engage themselves in learning from their contexts. We practice this internally. Naturally, this preference toward a pedagogical approach to learning may influence certain aspects of our work. Particularly this may show up as encouraging team members to make visible their thinking, and for that to be collectively explored and expanded upon. This is the basis of learning about the systems we are working on, as an ongoing process. This may feel different to conventional ways of working.
3. Process design is a different lens into work. Learning to see and design for living processes will feel like having to learn a different way of seeing. A process lens is different to an object- or output-lens. With an object-lens, we are working on making things. In process-design, particularly within the larger context of working on living systems, we are working on the ongoing unfolding of systems. Feel free to review object-vs-process-lens for direct comparisons.
4. Abstraction is used to try to speak about highly complex processes with fewer words. Many of the graphics serve this same purpose: naming and visualising something, in order to be able to refer to it later on/ in conversation and design.
5. Developing a shared language is one way to share meaning across the team and work collectively on complex systems from different disciplines. This can be thought of as an enabler: enabling the capacity to bridge (to language) from one role/ domain/ speciality/ reality to another. Joining the team, it may be feel like additional effort required to learn not just about the work itself but also the language with which we communicate. Effort has been made to make our language and practices open and transparent, such as writing a glossary and publishing many of our calls online .
6. Working in a way that is nested requires developing your ability to see your work as a contribution to something greater: under-standing. This is a very important capacity to develop in your work, especially for our in-person activities in communities.
7. Working on multiple levels of nested living systems may feel like stepping into a lot of uncertainty. This may feel unsettling. That’s ok. You’re not expected to know everything. In fact, a lot of the work requires starting from a place of acknowledging it’s not possible to know everything. There are many things that may come as surprises, such as shifts in perspective, and letting go of certain assumptions that previously felt sure.