Category: Articles
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From Riots to Resolution: Engaging Conflict for Reconciliation
As members of communities and organizations, many people feel their days (and their energy!) being consumed by contentious conflicts between diverse stakeholder groups. Organizations…
People in Context, Part I
Our efforts to understand and intervene in organizational events have a persistent bias: to interpret phenomena from a personal framework. In other words, situations…
How Learning Works
Recently, I had a long conversation with my fifteen-year-old daughter, Elise, about why she had to learn algebra. I had helped her with a…
Confessions of a Recovering Knower
Hi, my name is Brian and I am a recovering knower. But for the grace of God, and the disciplines of organizational learning, I…
Working in an Unhappy Place: Reengaging Disaffected Employees Through Conflict Resolution
Why can’t we all just get along?” asked Rodney King famously, echoing the sentiments of many of us who have at some point or…
Systems Thinking Concepts for Environmental Education
The goal of education for sustainability (EFS) is “to develop in young people and adults new knowledge and new ways of thinking needed to…
It’s Not a Behavioral Problem: It’s the System
Don’t ask systems thinkers for advice on managing performance or staff engagement. They will probably say something pretty fruity, and you’ll wind up frustrated…
Working in High-Leverage Zones with the Double-Loop Learning Matrix
T he Double-Loop Learning Matrix (adapted from the work of John J. Shibley) is a tool that teams can use for uncovering and articulating…
Modeling “Soft” Variables
When encountering system dynamics modeling for the first time, sharp-minded managers often ask, “How can you have any confidence in your model if you…
Minnesota Takes the Long View of Its Solid Waste System
In January 2000, Minnesota’s Office of Environmental Assistance (MN OEA) began to investigate creative solutions to the state’s growing problems with solid waste disposal.