Transduction — leading transformation — Issue #91
This week:
- Upcoming Events
- Operational excellence
- Systems Thinking
- Commissioning Academy
- Cybernetics
- Complex Systems
Upcoming Events:
Public Sector Show
4 July 2023, in person, County Hall, London.
The 11-year strong Public Sector Show drives the UK’s public procurement marketplace forward through extensive 1–1 networking, collaboration and premium insight into the latest ways of working, best-practice case studies and policy updates.
On 4th July, it will be bringing together leading commercial figureheads, innovators and policy leaders from across the public sector, with the collective aim of improved service delivery, enhanced efficiency and value for money. RedQuadrant’s own Benjamin Taylor will be chairing.
Find out more:
Summer 2023 National Commissioning Academy by the Public Service Transformation Academy
Expected start: June, running 8 months
We are delighted to announce the launch of Spring 2023 National Commissioning Academy which is accredited by the PSTA and Cabinet Office.
Described by the former Civil Service Chief Executive John Manzoni as ‘one of our flagship development programmes for leaders’, the Commissioning Academy is designed to equip commissioners and change makers from across public services with the insight, know-how and tools to transform outcomes for the communities we serve.
Expect:
- A blended, interactive programme over the course of 8 months
- Masterclass workshops (interactive, with input of ideas and frameworks)
- action learning/coaching
- expert speakers/short videos to watch
- peer challenge
- practical action planning on a project or priority you are working on membership of a nation-wide alumni
The Price is £2,300 + VAT. For more information, follow this link or contact Sarah.Johnston@publicservicetransformation.org.
Link Collection:
My Weekly Blog post:
I am hosting an Operational Excellence and Process Transformation summit, and seeking input on the future of OpEx, including aspects that need to be discarded and those that hold potential for a brighter future. Click the link to read in more detail.
Systems thinking recognizes that understanding the relationships and interactions within a system is crucial for explaining complex behaviors. It challenges reductionism by emphasizing the need to study the structure and dynamics of the whole system. Developing a shared model of the system is essential for consensus and understanding complex behaviors. Click the link to read in more detail.
How To Use Systems Thinking To Understand And Communicate Complex Behaviours
The author explores the contrasting interpretations of cybernetics in contemporary political discourse. One perspective, referred to as machinism, sees cybernetics as a tool for oppressive social control. The other perspective, synergism, views cybernetics as a means to envision and create a better world, promoting self-organization, autonomy, and collaboration. While these interpretations stem from the same foundational principles of cybernetic research, they represent opposing histories and futures. Distinguishing between these perspectives is crucial for fostering understanding and dialogue between those seeking liberation and those opposing oppressive systems. The author asserts that machinism hinders emancipation, while synergism is essential for envisioning alternative possibilities and countering the hegemonic machine. Click the link to read in more detail.
Links to:
SFI Complexity Interactive — October 9–20, 2023, Santa Fe, USA
Online + Exploratory + Transdisciplinary
In a time marked by environmental limits and social injustices, impact investing emerges as a means to prioritize social and environmental goals over financial profit. Impact investors seek businesses that promote sustainability and positive social impact. However, addressing complex problems requires investing in systemic solutions rather than individual enterprises. Systems investing involves directing resources towards transitioning from existing systems to those prioritizing social and environmental purpose. It requires mapping and understanding the system, envisioning an ideal system, identifying leverage opportunities, and convening different funders. Blended finance, combining grant funding and investment capital, can catalyze change. Organizations like NPC are engaging in systems change through impact investing, aiming to address issues such as mental health care. Impact investors interested in driving systemic change are encouraged to explore this approach. Click the link to read in more detail.
New Philanthropy Capital — Systems investing: How to invest in systems change — David Neaum
From an existentialist perspective, complexity is subjective and dependent on the observer’s ability to assign meaning to a situation based on its possibilities. Existentialism emphasizes the concepts of facticity (constraints) and transcendence (freedom to make choices) in shaping one’s existence. Complexity arises when an observer must make sense of a situation and manage it to derive something from it. The observer-subject relationship determines the complexity of an object or situation, as different observers may focus on different attributes or familiar aspects. In the social realm, meaning-making is influenced by individual facticities, and each person may attribute different meanings to the same situation. Prescribed frameworks may limit understanding, as essence and complexity emerge through social interactions and the freedom to assign meaning. Ultimately, human reality encounters obstacles and resistance that gain significance through the choices made by individuals. Click the link to read in more detail.
Interpretive systemology is a systems approach that encourages researchers to explore different interpretations of social phenomena or policy problems. Unlike other systems approaches that focus on systemic interventions, interpretive systemologists prioritize critique over accommodation. This thesis challenges the notion that accommodation and critique are logically opposed and reconstructs the theory underlying interpretive systemology to incorporate both concepts. Drawing on the sociology of Gillian Rose, the thesis proposes the idea of a “broken middle” between accommodation and critique, emphasizing the continuous navigation of difficult dilemmas rather than seeking to mend the tension. This recalibration of the relationship between accommodation and critique is particularly valuable for analyzing marginalization and conflict during policy interventions. The methodology is applied to a study of the UK Government’s policy on Fundamental British Values (FBVs), revealing diverse perspectives and underscoring the need for reflexive transformative accommodation that incorporates critique. The reconstructed interpretive systemology offers added value to social policy analysis by accommodating moral diversity within a liberal institutional framework. Click the link to read in more detail.
This study addresses the challenge of coordinating and organizing diverse stakeholders to take purposeful action in complex and interconnected problem situations, particularly in the context of cluster development. The research explores how to design purposeful action when stakeholders have different interpretations of the problem and do not share the same priorities. The methodology combines an ontological-pragmatic philosophical paradigm with auto-ethnographic exploration, utilizing an inductive process and a single case study with iterative Action Research cycles. The study draws upon concepts from Soft Systems Methodology, systems dynamics, commitment management, conversations for action frameworks, reflective practice, and facilitation skills. Through experiences of disharmony and breakdown, the study uncovers the challenges faced in facilitating interventions for designing purposeful action and proposes a “being-doing” approach. The study concludes by presenting a personal knowledge system model based on the framework of ideas explored. Keywords include soft skills in cluster development, systems thinking, wicked problems, purposeful action, conversations for action, commitment networks, facilitation skills, reflective practice, mood, thinking environment, interpretive action research, and personal knowledge system model. Click the link to read in more detail.
Designing purposeful action among divergent stakeholders: A ‘being-doing’ approach — McDonogh (2014)
The concept of autonomy is often misunderstood and has different meanings in various contexts. To clarify its definition, Michael Zargham, founder and Chief Engineer of BlockScience, drew on Thomas Swann’s book “Anarchist Cybernetics: Control and Communication in Radical Politics” in a talk given in April 2022. Zargham breaks down autonomy into two categories: Functional Autonomy and Political Autonomy. Functional Autonomy refers to the flexibility of an individual or organization to respond to complexity in achieving its goals. It can be further divided into Strategic Autonomy, which involves the freedom to set goals, and Tactical Autonomy, which pertains to the freedom of action required to achieve those goals. On the other hand, Political Autonomy relates to an individual or organization’s authority to make decisions without external interference. Autonomy is examined in the context of emergent, self-organizing systems such as Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), where tensions and trade-offs exist between Individual Autonomy and Collective Autonomy. The summary also mentions the importance of considering multiscale perspectives to capture interscale effects in crypto-economic systems. Click the link to read in more detail.
Disambiguating Autonomy: Ceding Control in favor of Coordination in Cybernetic Organizing
