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#systems thinking

October 2026 4 notes

notes updated 5 min read

Introducing OrgLens, a systems-based health check for organisations

AI summary

Doug has introduced OrgLens, a free and open-source systems-based health check for organisations, which allows users to describe their organisation and receive a report on what's working and what areas need improvement. The tool uses systems thinking to analyse the organisation from three different perspectives and provides a report with quotes and suggestions for next steps. OrgLens is available to try online, with the option to run a private copy using the open-source code.

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notes updated 3 min read

Weekstarter 41/2026

AI summary

Doug has been in Toronto for a few days, attending an unconferencing event and running sessions on Productive Friction and systems thinking. He is now on his way home and has several upcoming commitments, including the Mozilla Festival in Barcelona and a 'Just Enough AI' event in Bristol. Doug also mentions various updates on his work, media consumption, and personal life, including his progress with reading The Brothers Karamazov and listening to Flawless Consulting.

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ideas updated 9 min read

OrgLens: 2. Making an organisational health check people can actually use

AI summary

Doug has been developing OrgLens, a tool for organisational health checks, to make it more accessible to people without a systems thinking background. He has made progress in creating plain-language reports that are easy to understand and trust, by incorporating checks and using ordinary language to describe findings. The tool has shown promising results in tests with fictional organisations, but Doug acknowledges that there are still limitations and caveats to be addressed, including the need for human evaluation and validation.

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ideas updated 15 min read

OrgLens: 1. Can an AI agent do systems thinking?

AI summary

Doug has been experimenting with AI tools, specifically Raven, to see if they can help with organisational diagnosis using systems thinking, particularly the Viable System Model (VSM). He found that the AI agent was better at modelling than expected, but still made similar mistakes to people, such as choosing the wrong level of recursion or swapping certain system components. Doug concludes that an agent can make a credible first pass at modelling an organisation, but honesty and transparency need to be designed into the process.

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September 2026 7 notes

notes updated 5 min read

Weekstarter 40/2026

AI summary

Doug is resuming his weekly updates, inspired by Ahmet Sabanci's Weird and Deadly Interesting blog, and will be publishing "weekstarters" that look both back and ahead. This week, Doug is preparing for a Mozilla Alumni gathering in Toronto and working on client projects, including helping INASP replace their organisational site. He is also looking forward to introducing a new tool called "Soundings" and has been enjoying various books, audiobooks, and music in his personal time.

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notes updated 2 min read

Watershed: a quick systems check for organisations

AI summary

Doug has created Soundings, a free online self-assessment tool that helps organisations understand how to work systemically. The tool, which draws on Patrick Hoverstadt's The Grammar of Systems II, provides a quick scan of an organisation's systems and identifies patterns and areas for improvement. By using Soundings, organisations can gain a better understanding of their systems and identify where to start making changes to work more effectively.

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reflections updated 8 min read

#SysPrac26 – Day 2

AI summary

Doug attended the second day of SCiO's annual conference, where he participated in sessions on Systems Thinking in Government and the Viable System Model. He found Patrick Hoverstadt's session on VSM to be particularly insightful, as it reframed the model around five key tensions rather than complicated diagrams. Doug also attended a session on 33 Systems Laws & Principles, which he found useful for understanding complex systems.

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reflections updated 4 min read

#SysPrac26 – Day 1

AI summary

Doug attended the #SysPrac26 conference in Cranfield, where he was pleased to find a diverse and welcoming community of systems thinkers. The conference featured a range of sessions, including an opening panel discussion and workshops on De-Misting Critical Systems Heuristics and Multi-Methodology, which explored the use of multiple methodologies in systems thinking. Doug found the discussions and presentations to be intellectually stimulating and really tasty food was an added bonus.

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notes 1 min read

I've decided to attend #SysPrac26 at the end of the month

AI summary

Doug has decided to attend the #SysPrac26 conference at the end of the month, rearranging his commitments to do so. He is particularly interested in attending various talks on systems thinking, including those by Tony Korycki and Benjamin Taylor. The conference aligns with Doug's goal of focusing on systems thinking with practical impact in the second half of his career.

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reflections updated 2 min read

Consequences have boundaries

AI summary

Doug has discovered a connection between his previous thoughts on consequentialism and Critical System Heuristics (CSH), a framework that involves asking 12 boundary judgement questions to inform a system of interest. These questions can be applied twice, firstly to assess the current system and secondly to envision an ideal system, allowing for comparison and iteration towards a more ethical and representative system. Doug's previous work on CSH includes a set of tables that have become distorted during archiving, but the core principles remain applicable.

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August 2026 2 notes

ideas updated 15 min read

FIELD STATION as a viable system

AI summary

Doug's note, "FIELD STATION as a viable system," discusses the application of the Viable System Model (VSM) to build a sustainable business for FIELD STATION, an action lab investigating the future of work, technology, and society. The note outlines the five systems of VSM (Systems 1-5) and how they apply to the field they work in, which lacks System 2 and System 5 coordination and identity, respectively. Doug suggests that TechFreedom, a program they offer, can help supply some of what's missing, acting as a System 2 and System 4 instrument for other organisations. The note also covers coordination, decision-making, and identity within FIELD STATION itself, as well as the potential role of AI in meeting the "requisite variety" in their work.

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notes 4 min read

The elephant is coming towards us regardless of what we choose to do, or not to do

AI summary

Doug notes that certain future events, like the climate crisis and water shortages, are already inevitable due to past actions, much like the predictable flooding of the River Ganges. He summarises Andrew Curry's expansion on Art Kleiner's work, highlighting second-order effects that are locked-in by 2030, including worsening climate change, increased water scarcity, and continued biodiversity loss.

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July 2026 1 note

notes 1 min read

Small islands of coherence in a sea of chaos

When a complex system is far from equilibrium, small islands of coherence in a sea of chaos have the capacity to shift the entire system to a higher order.

– Ilya Prigogine

June 2026 2 notes

reflections updated 1 min read

I don't work at the 'intersection' of anything thank you very much

AI summary

Doug discusses the idea that working at the 'intersection' of different fields can be a limiting concept, instead suggesting that his work is more akin to maintaining multiple parallel lines that whisper secrets to him. He draws on his background in Philosophy, History, Education, and Systems Thinking to argue that everything is constructed and that our understanding of the world is subjective. Doug concludes that this realisation is liberating, allowing individuals to define themselves however they like.

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ideas updated 5 min read

Problem-solving with TRIZ

AI summary

TRIZ is a problem-solving methodology based on studying global patents, boiled down to three core ideas: contradictions drive hard problems, resolving them requires separation in space/time/scale/condition, and the ideal state is delivering function with no system. The 40 inventive principles collapse into 7 families, and the author applies this framework to their own work in sovereignty consulting, facilitation, product design, and mission-driven organizations.

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May 2026 2 notes

reflections updated 3 min read

Reflections on 'Myths We Live By: Metaphor as a Tool for Empowering Change'

AI summary

A workshop by Annalise Lewis on May 1, 2026 explored how metaphors shape perception and can evolve rather than replace existing narratives. The session introduced four layers of story, clean language techniques, and a "poetic shift" to empower change. It prompted personal reflection on evolving a consultancy practice toward greater risk tolerance and systems thinking.

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notes updated 1 min read

It's algorithms all the way down?

AI summary

The note critiques Daniel Miessler's idea that businesses are simply a "graph of algorithms" by linking it to Stafford Beer's Viable System Model, arguing that AI can optimize but not fully automate the complexity of multinational companies. The author concludes that human skill and context remain essential for redesigning processes.

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