#systems thinking

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.