Transduction — leading transformation — Issue #26

Benjamin P. Taylor
15 min readNov 27, 2021

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Welcome. For my second join newsletter on LinkedIn and getrevue, I have gone back to editions 4–6 from July of this year as well as this week’s updates. Enjoy!

The power of names, part 1 — why RedQuadrant? — the once-chosen pathchosen-path.org
How did you name your company? Or what would you name your startup? Many people ask about our name, RedQuadrant– is it ‘the quadrant where things get done’, ‘the danger zone’, a strange political reference (it’s not) — or is it a reference to part of the Gateshead Metrocentre or the failure mode indicators of…

The power of names, part two — @antlerboychosen-path.org

What name would you choose, if you had to rename yourself? And why am I antlerboy?

top phive of the week

Until Monday as a thanksgiving offering we have two discounts for Requisite Agility Unleashed:

  • 75% discount on the 49 USD ticket with coupon code RAUN75
  • 50% discount on the 89 USD Ticket with coupon code RAUNTG50

Requisite Agility unleashed — Benjamin Taylor trailerwww.youtube.com
Book at https://www.requisiteagility.org/attend/ra-unleashed-conference and get 50% off the basic ticket with code RAUN50

‘The Adaptive Council’ videowww.youtube.com

The Public Service Transformation Academy at Essex LearnFest

What capability do public services most need in 2022 and beyond?chosen-path.org

The degree of stress, pressure, and overwhelm seems to have been growing for the last twelve years, with crushing austerity accelerated by the twin crises of COVID-19 and “Brexit”. We have learned that we can rise to the occasion, as heroes — but the slow crises are even harder to deal with. The challenges of …

Taking a step back before the next big leap in digital transformationwww.govtransformation.org
Dr Gerald Power is RedQuadrant’s director of customer-led transformation and service lead for digital change and digital delivery. The last two years has been ‘challenging’ to say the least for public sector delivery organisations as they have had to cope with the direct and indirect impact of covid. In many ways covid greatly accelerated change […]

What’s your most controversial view about digital transformation?chosen-path.org

We should all just straight-up refuse to use the phrase “digital transformation” from now on. There’s only organisational transformation. That was David Durant, a major #publicservice and #localgov digital guy We should all just straight-up refuse to use the phrase “digital transformation” from now on. There’s only organisational transformation. https://t.co/8vMKDd06lU — David Durant (He/him) (@cholten99) …

What’s your favourite saying that you invented?*chosen-path.org

What Law would bear your name? (* it might be that, like mine, yours are not *really* unique — but don’t worry about that for today 🙂 ) See others’ contributions at: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/antlerboy_taylors-law-activity-6869182907479683072-cM0Z Feel free to share Laws in other people’s names that you regularly call upon. Here are mine: Taylor’s Corollary to Pareto’s Law …

The Liminal Web: Mapping An Emergent Subculture Of Sensemakers, Meta-Theorists & Systems Poets — Joe Lightfoot — the once-chosen pathchosen-path.org

An interesting discussion about the ‘scene’, with my critical/confused comments.

public | service | transformation

what could the role of government and public services look like in the 21st Century and beyond? — the once-chosen path

chosen-path.org

Nour Sidawi asked this on twitter https://twitter.com/noursidawi/status/1413503536948649987?s=20 and is building a list at https://nour-sidawi.medium.com/a-reading-list-on-what-could-the-role-of-government-and-public-services-could-look-like-in-the-c00d62a09bfb since the book isn’t ready yet, here are my humble contributions…

Announcing UKGovcamp 2022

www.publicservicetransformation.org

You can now register for your ticket for @UKGovCamp 2022, taking place virtually on January 20th — 22nd, 2022. Full details can be found via this link.

Left shift: show me the evidence.

www.publicservicetransformation.org

We all want better evidence on the effects and success of prevention in healthcare. This blog by Greg Fell, Director of Public Health at Sheffield, discusses why our debates aboute evidence often go wrong.

Why don’t they ask us? The role of communities in levelling up | Institute for Community Studiesicstudies.org.uk
Download our latest report which examines how to fix local economies for communities.

systems | complexity | cybernetics

Is there an actual source for the Kurt Lewin quote “You cannot understand a system until you try to change it”?

stream.syscoi.com
Sometimes this is given as “If you want truly to understand something, try to change it.” and I learned it as “You never understand a system until you start to try to change it.” I also see Urie Bronfenbrenner quoted as saying: “you never understand a phenomenon until you try to change it”. I would […]

Cybersyn in The Economist | Systems Community of Inquiry

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If you don’t have a subscription, open the link and before the page has loaded hit ‘print’, select print to pdf, and hit ‘print’ on the print dialogue (works on Chrome on Windows computer).

Storytelling for Systems Change | Centre For Public Impact (CPI) | Systems Community of Inquiry

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Storytelling for Systems Change Insights from the field How can stories help us change systems?Storytelling for Systems Change | Centre For Public Impact (CPI)

Open Sociotechnical Systems Thinking with Trond Hjorteland — YouTubestream.syscoi.com
Open Sociotechnical Systems Thinking with Trond Hjorteland Unlisted 92 viewsStreamed live 5 hours ago 8 DISLIKE SHARE SAVE Virtual Domain-Driven Design 1.96K subscribers SUBSCRIBED The term “sociotechnical” seems to have gotten a bit or renaissance lately, which is a great thing given all the positive impact it has had on many organisations and their workers […]

Error Correction of Error Correction:stream.syscoi.com
Originally posted on Harish’s Notebook — My notes… Lean, Cybernetics, Quality & Data Science.: If I were asked to explain cybernetics, the first thing that would come to my mind would be — error correction. The example that is often used to explain cybernetics is that of the steersman. You have a steersman on…

Mikael Seppälä’s 2019 work on frameworks of capabilities employed by practitioners in Systems Change

stream.syscoi.com
Mikael Seppälä @mikaelseppala We’re convening a Community of Practice of stakeholders around #SystemsChange. To help the process I’m reviewing existing frameworks of capabilities employed by practitioners in the field. Am I missing something? Any efforts we should join? WIP: http://bit.ly/systemschangetraining (2) Mikael Seppälä on Twitter: “We’re convening a Community of Practice of 🇫🇮 stakeholders around […]

Design and Control of Self-organizing Systems | Systems Community of Inquiry

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Author: Carlos Gershenson Published: 2007 Physiscs, Self-organization, Complexity Theory English Complex systems are usually difficult to design and control. There are several particular methods for coping with complexity, but there is no general approach…

Towards Self-Organizing Bureaucracies | Gershenson (2008) | International Journal of Public Information Systems | Systems Community of Inquiry

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Towards Self-Organizing Bureaucracies Carlos Gershenson http://www.ijpis.net/ojs/index.php/IJPIS/article/view/51 Abstract The goal of this paper is to contribute to eGovernment efforts, encouraging the use of self-organization as a method to improve the efficiency and adaptability of bureaucracies and similar social systems. Bureaucracies are described as networks of agents, where the main design principle is to reduce local “friction”…

Rockwool Foundation — Systems Change On Purpose, December 8, 15:00 CETstream.syscoi.com
We have a new webinar coming up! Join us for the second webinar in our free series on December 8th, 15:00–16:15 CET / 14:00–15:15 GMT / 9–10:15am EST. The most powerful lever to shift a system is to change what it is for, the purpose it serves. Creating a new system invariably involves establishing a […]

Emergence: Complexity & Organization — collected works of Warren S. McCulloch edited by Rook McCulloch

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Collected Works of Warren S. McCulloch Edited by Rook McCulloch — Emergence: Complexity & Organization

Systems Research and Behavioural Science — ISSS Yearbook: Systemic Change towards Sustainable Development: Innovative and Integrative Approaches: Systems Research and Behavioral Science: Vol 38, No 5

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I am not at all sure what is happening with the proliferation of subtitles here. But some very interesting articles (from what I can see from the open access or otherwise available ones)

Systems Library — Ray Ison and Ed Straw: The Hidden Power of Systems Thinking (2020) and other books | by Philippe Vandenbroeck | May, 2021 | Medium | Systems Community of Inquiry

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Ray Ison and Ed Straw: The Hidden Power of Systems Thinking (2020) A Systems Library, Vol. 20 Philippe Vandenbroeck 9

sg on Twitter — what is Cybernetics?twitter.com

A lot of good, and a lot of very bad, explanations in this thread! Fascinating stuff. Also I like that her profile pic looks like she’s at a party, asked the question, and is regretting it.

Cybernetics is not the banana. — the once-chosen path

chosen-path.org
not the banana Wat? What are we offering the world? Imagine a chimp in a cage. In this cage is a banana on top of a large shelf, out of reach for the chimp. However, there is also a stick in the cage. Of course, the chimp will manage to get the banana using the…

Systems 1: An Introduction to Systems Thinking | updated — Draper Kauffman and Morgan Kauffman | Systems Community of Inquiry

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SYSTEMS 1: AN INTRODUCTION TO SYSTEMS THINKING $5.29 The first textbook on systems thinking written for a broad audience, and now updated for the modern reader, Systems 1 is a perfect introduction to the complex systems that make up the world around us. Originally written in 1980, it has remained a classic and a mainstay…

The Cybernetics of Magic and the Magic of Cybernetics: | Systems Community of Inquiry

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Your description for this link…

when I was on Racket

large scale impacts of systems thinking — a complicated question! | Racket

racket.com
large scale impacts of systems thinking — a complicated question! by @antlerboy

Which systems theorist had the most impact on their own organisation?

www.linkedin.com

A conversation from when I was on Racket…

organisational development / transformation

Wouldn’t it be good if you could improve your chances of successful change? — the once-chosen pathchosen-path.org
Is your pattern of change interventions on track for success — or failure? I really believe that more than 70% of change fails to achieve its goals. In fact, my former business partner ennis Vergne proved it in his research. He studied ten major change programmes for his MSc — in each, over 40 jobs…

This week I spoke at #leanagileUK on ‘five core practices’ for effective organisations — the once-chosen pathchosen-path.org
Thanks to Matt Turner — and Dinah Turner did this great piece of graphic facilitation. Graphic facilitation by Dinah Turner These are five *generous* practices — they work well for novices and sophisticates alike. They are intentionally *practices*, not claims to excellence, ‘values’, or ‘principles’: ways to work on honest, productive conversations which work towards…

Essential practices for organisation — talk on 13 July — the once-chosen pathchosen-path.org
What do you think are the most essential practices for organisation? Practices are: things you make a commitment tothings you do regularlythings you get better at, through practice And, over time, sometimes practices can fade when you learn to follow the underlying principles. But, unlike principles, practices give you a go-to, something to work on…

Which world do you live in? — the once-chosen path

chosen-path.org
There are ‘five worlds’ in any service, especially #publicservices, or #systemschange A simplification that can help understanding, from a small service to a whole place-based system In citizen (customer) world, we live our lives, trying to achieve our purposes. We prefer to get on with things ourselves; sometimes we need help, sometimes we even create…

You should never publish your values or behaviours if you want culture change — the once-chosen path

chosen-path.org
Culture is the scoreboard, not the game. If you try to specify the score you want, you’re far more likely to do things that are counter-productive than you are to work on the things that will change how the game is going. As soon as you publish values and behaviours, you get three things:1- indignation…

Hierarchy, teams, self-organisation, levels of learning, circularity, domination, and accountability — six articles from Georges Romme (and reflections on Requisite Agility) | Systems Community of Inquiry

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I’m participating in a thing organised by Amit Arora called Requisite Agility — a sort of project, a sort of movement, which began with Amit producing some software for someone doing Requisite Organisation work (after Elliott Jaques). With the title Requisite Organisation, some people persuaded of the deep value of the underlying insights of management…

The Handbook of Handbooks for Decentralised Organising — Richard D Bartlett | Systems Community of Inquiry

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The Handbook of Handbooks for Decentralised Organising The Handbook of Handbooks for Decentralised Organising — HackMD

Adaptability is set to be the key skill for the future | Systems Community of Inquiry

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Adaptability is set to be the key skill for the future Jessica Schueller and Hugo Figueiredo 03 July 2021Adaptability is set to be the key skill for the future

procurement AND commissioning

The critical role of procurement in public value outcomes — PSTAwww.publicservicetransformation.org

The Public Sector Show 2021

environmental and social justice

This Haunting Animation Maps the Journeys of 15,790 Slave Ships in Two Minutes

slate.com
By the conclusion of the trans-Atlantic slave trade at the end of the 19th century, Europeans had enslaved and transported more than 12.5 million Africans.

more brain food

As We May Think — The Atlanticamp.theatlantic.com
“Consider a future device … in which an individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility. It is an enlarged intimate supplement to his memory.”

‘Social’ Mitochondria, Whispering Between Cells, Influence Health | Systems Community of Inquirystream.syscoi.com
Your description for this link…

Warren Sturgis McCulloch Interview (Canadian Broadcasting 1969)

stream.syscoi.com
Warren Sturgis McCulloch Interview Canadian Broadcasting 1969 — Warren speaks of brains and thinking machines, science and his legacy, and the need to be ‘completely humble to the facts and completely haughty to man…’ Warren Sturgis McCulloch Interview on Vimeo Warren Sturgis McCulloch Interview Canadian Broadcasting 1969 — Warren speaks of brains and thinking machines, […]

Understanding Society: Bauman on the Holocaustunderstandingsociety.blogspot.com

What’s an extremely useful website most people probably don’t know about? : AskReddit

www.reddit.com
r/AskReddit is the place to ask and answer thought-provoking questions.

Hobby Drama • r/HobbyDramawww.reddit.com
The most interesting subreddit about things you’re not interested in.

Kevin Kelly Blog: Out of Control, The Illustrated Edition — free pdf | Systems Community of Inquiry

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source (h/t Arthur Battram):Kevin Kelly Blog: Out of Control, The Illustrated Edition Out of Control, The Illustrated Edition My first book, Out of Control, still in print from Amazon and available online in full text since 1995, was always imperfect in my eyes. I had wanted to fill it with illustrations. But it was so large (230,000 words)…

Molly Hodgdon on Twittertwitter.com

Your description for this link… “Good news: I have gathered a bunch of photos of naval ship cats in tiny hammocks. Here are sailors of the HMS Hermione in 1941 surrounding their sleeping cat, Convoy.…

Mass Extinction in The Human Gut Revealed by Fossil Remains of 2,000-Year-Old Feceswww.sciencealert.com
The microbes living in our gut are way less diverse than they were 2,000 years ago.

John D. Cook on Twittertwitter.com

Calcium, magnesium, and iron in cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes, and spinach dropped 80–90% between 1914 and 2018.

Jim Waterson on Twittertwitter.com

‘A beaver expert involved with the project said: “The Tottenham site is going ahead, and we are looking out for more,” adding he wants to “beaver up” London.’

Sense of Coherence — an overview | Systems Community of Inquiry

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Sense of Coherence Sense of coherence refers to a person’s ability to use existing and potential resources to combat stress and promote health, and it is measured based on one’s perception of manageability, meaning, and comprehensibility (Antonovsky, 1987).

purpose

Teacher Tom: The Practice of Purposeteachertomsblog.blogspot.com
Reflections on teaching and learning from preschoolers

HOW TO USE CONSCIOUS PURPOSE WITHOUT WRECKING EVERYTHING — John Gall (A talk prepared for presentation at the annual Gilbfest, London, UK, June 25, 2012) | Systems Community of Inquiry

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HOW TO USE CONSCIOUS PURPOSE WITHOUT WRECKING EVERYTHING By John Gall, MS, MD, FAAP A talk prepared for presentation at the annual Gilbfest, London, UK, June 25, 2012http://concepts.gilb.com/dl539

Effects of Conscious Purpose on Human Adaptation | Systems Community of Inquiry

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Effects of Conscious Purpose on Human Adaptation 1968 by Gregory Bateson

and

RAGNAR ROKR: THE EFFECTS OF CONSCIOUS PURPOSE ON HUMAN ADAPTATION [211] Warren McCulloch

what is?

What Is Life? — Schrödinger, 1944

stream.syscoi.com
What Is Life? The Physical Aspect of the Living Cell is a 1944 science book written for the lay reader by physicist Erwin Schrödinger. What Is Life? — Wikipedia 32-page version (lectures) http://www.whatislife.ie/downloads/What-is-Life.pdf 1944 book or

McCulloch W. S. (1960) What is a number, that a man may know it, and a man, that he may know a number?

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McCulloch W. S. (1960) What is a number, that a man may know it, and a man, that he may know a number? General Semantics Bulletin 26/27: 7–18. Available at https://cepa.info/1821 McCulloch W. S. (1960) What is a number, that a man may know it, and a man, that he may know a number? [1821] […]

What Is Memory that It May Have Hindsight and Foresight as well | Foerster, 1969

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What Is Memory that It May Have Hindsight and Foresight as well What Is Memory that It May Have Hindsight and Foresight as well | Semantic Scholar What Is Memory that It May Have Hindsight and Foresight as well H. Foerster Published 1969 Psychology “What is Time?” According to Legend, Augustine’s reply to this question was: […]

interlude

Chris Barber’s JB 1959 Climax Rag (live)www.youtube.com
Chris Barber’s Jazz Band live in concert May 23 1959 Deutschland Halle, Berlin issued “Lansdowne Jazz Series.” The Band: Chris Barber (Tb); Pat Halcox (Tp); …

Strategic Voting Behavior in Doodle Polls

www.researchgate.net

Key features of group decision-making

Artist Comes Up With Genius Way To Use Puzzles, Sells The Result For Up To $650 | Bored Pandawww.boredpanda.com
Putting together a Jigsaw puzzle can be delightfully frustrating and Vancouver based artist Tim Klein wants to add in some extra pieces. Yes, Klein practices the obscure art of ‘puzzle montage,’ taking pieces from various jigsaw puzzle sets and re-arranging them to form a new stunning image.

Observing Systems | Heinz von Foerster (1984) | download | Systems Community of Inquirystream.syscoi.com
Observing Systems Heinz von FoersterObserving Systems | Heinz von Foerster | download

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Benjamin P. Taylor
Benjamin P. Taylor

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