So, What is a System?

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I’m working backwards. I started this entry on defining change. Then I realized change can’t exist without systems. So, what is a system? I like the following (heavily inspired by Systems Thinking Basics: From Concepts to Causal Loops) Systems have several...

Reverse Engineering Reality Part 2: Creating Causal Loop Diagrams

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Causal Loop Diagrams (CLDs) share several things with books: they both tell stories, they can be fact or fiction, and they’re both easier to read than write. Keep reading to learn how to write CLDs. The Buddy System The first step in creating CLDs: find a buddy,...

Reverse Engineering Reality Part 1: Reading Causal Loop Diagrams

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Causal Loop Diagrams (CLDs) can help us understand complex interactions and events by revealing system structure. Unlike buildings, most systems don’t have visible structure. We notice systems by observing events. When the events form a pattern (usually over...

Learning to Change

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In Changing Quicker we looked at reducing or removing system delays to reduce the time delay between realizing a change needs to be made, and when the change’s effects occur. Another way to change quicker involves learning to change. Learning is a process that...
Shifting the Burden – Whose Monkey is it?

Shifting the Burden – Whose Monkey is it?

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© Don Gray, 2005 – 2006 “Repeatedly curing a system that can cure itself will eventually create a system that can’t.” – Marvin’s Second Great Secret, Jerry Weinberg “Don, the software’s locked up again! Can you come up...