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Twenty years! That's how long Pegasus has been
working to help you see and understand systems, and
providing tools for managing your toughest
challenges. Systems thinking has come a long way in
that time--we increasingly hear systems language
used to describe the economic, environmental, and
geo-political crises we face. And yet, the field remains
ahead of the mainstream with plenty of room to grow
in its application to planning and problem solving at
every level. You may not think of yourself as a pioneer,
but as a reader of this newsletter, you are. Thanks for
your partnership.
| Twelve Principles of Living Systems |
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from Linda Booth
Sweeney
Educator and writer Linda
Booth Sweeney believes that all people have an
innate "intelligence" about systems. In her keynote
presentation at the 2009 Pegasus Conference, she'll
help us discover the shifts we need to make--in
perspective and in habits of mind--to tap into that
capacity in a more integrated, more effective way. A
first step is to start recognizing the systems principles
constantly at work in the world around us. Here is a
partial list of enduring understandings related to
Living Systems.
Interdependence: A relationship in
which each partner affects and often needs the
other.
System Integrity: What a system
has when all the parts and processes essential to its
ability to function are present.
Biodiversity: the variety, complexity,
and abundance of species that, if adequate, make
ecosystems healthy and resilient.
Cooperation and Partnership: The
continual process in which species exchange energy
and resources.
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| Pre- and Post-Conference Workshops Extend Your Learning |
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The 19th
Annual Pegasus
Conference
Now More Than Ever:
Critical Skills for
Courageous Organizations
November 2 - 4, 2009 ·
Seattle, Washington · Westin, Seattle
Arrive ahead of time or stay on
after the conference to extend your learning
experience with one of these useful skill-building
workshops.
 Leading Change
Through Applied Systems Thinking
Saturday & Sunday, October
31-November 1; 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
David Peter Stroh,
Bridgeway Partners; Michael Goodman,
Innovation Associates Organizational
Learning
In this engaging two-day
workshop, learn how to achieve sustainable high
performance by incorporating systems thinking
principles and tools to mobilize and focus
organizational initiatives.
Learn
more... | Order#PRE01,
$1395
 Life at the Frontier: Leadership
through Courageous Conversation
Sunday, November 1; 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
David Whyte, Many Rivers
Company
Join "corporate poet" David Whyte to improve your
leadership effectiveness in a changing, multicultural
world by understanding and applying the essential
elements of real conversation.
Learn
more... | Order#PRE02,
$895
 The Change Lab: Putting the
U-Process into Practice
Sunday, November 1; 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
LeAnne Grillo and Joe
McCarron, Reos Partners
In this fast-paced session, experience the "Change
Lab," a problem-solving approach based on the
U-Process that helps multistakeholder groups
address complex issues in a systemic, creative, and
participatory way.
Learn
more... | Order#PRE03,
$895
 Systems Literacy: Living Stories
about Living Systems
Thursday, November 5; 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Linda Booth
Sweeney
With systems educator Linda Booth Sweeney, develop
ways to use folktales and myths to teach some of the
principles of systems and environmental
sustainability to others in your organization or
school.
Learn more... | Order#POST01,
$895
 Facilitation Tools for
Organizational Learning
Thursday & Friday, November 5-6; 9:00 AM to
5:00 PM
Kristina Wile and
Rebecca Niles Peretz, The Systems Thinking
Collaborative
In this two-day
workshop, gain experience with several facilitation
tools, including hexagon mapping, system
archetypes, and causal loop diagrams, and learn
user-friendly techniques for facilitating systems
thinking interventions.
Learn more... | Order#POST02,
$1395
Significant team discounts are available for
groups of 4 or more. Call us at
1-800-272-0945 to talk about how the teams program
at this year's Pegasus Conference can work for you.
Individual conference registrations are just $1195
through April 10! (a savings of $500 off the full
conference price). Register now to secure your seat at these low
rates.
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| Ready, aim, fail: Why setting goals can backfire |
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 by Drake Bennett
Are
you setting goals that are driving improved results for
your organization? Or are unrealistic or poorly
designed goals having the paradoxical effect of
eroding both morale and performance? In a recent
article in The Boston Globe, Drake Bennett
surveys current thinking on the usefulness of goal-
setting and highlights the importance of avoiding
unintended consequences by making sure that the
goals you select are embedded in systems
understanding.
Few would argue that goal-setting doesn't work.
Psychologists have long documented the positive
effects that measurable goals can have on workers'
focus and productivity. Championed by the likes of
John F. Kennedy and Stephen Covey, goal-setting can
dramatically increase people's engagement and
success. But is there a hidden downside to the
practice? Bennett cites a new paper in Academy of
Management Perspectives that draws on cases from
the psychology and economics literature to compile a
sort of "greatest hits of disasters in goal setting."
Among the stories featured in the paper is GM's
pledge not long ago to recapture 29 percent of the
American market, a benchmark they had relinquished
in 1999. The company built an impressive internal
campaign around the goal, but in their determination
to sell more of the vehicles they had already designed,
they diverted critical resources away from the
longer-term imperative of building a better product.
The result: Not only did they fail to attain their intended
29 percent, but--as the public is now all too aware--the
mismanagement led the company to the brink of
bankruptcy.
Does this mean you shouldn't set goals? Not at
all. But you will benefit by thinking carefully about
which goals you adopt. Are they learning goals? Are
they flexible enough to change with circumstances?
And are they reinforcing your teams' inherent interest
in their work?
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Stretch Your Buying Power! |
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Help us
celebrate our 20th anniversary and save on your
favorite resources with the Pegasus Stimulus
Plan
Open our latest catalog online and enjoy Savings
of 30% on any Pegasus product* extended through April
30.
For every $300 you spend between now and April 30,
receive a discount coupon good for 30% off any
Pegasus product through the end of 2009.*
*These offers do not
apply to titles from other publishers that Pegasus
resells, or products that are already discounted. The
stimulus discount cannot be combined with other
discounts.
Learn more...
Use your
stimulus discount to save on The Systems
Thinker
Jump start your library of progressive
management practices when you buy hundreds of
articles in The Systems Thinker Volumes 10-19
Collection.
This searchable compilation includes every article
from the innovative newsletter's last ten years. Reach
for it when you need to find a new idea, clarify your
own thinking, or talk with others about working more
effectively together. Available on CD or via download
directly to your computer
Highlights from volume
19 include:
—How Can We Solve
Our Toughest Problems Peacefully?,
by Adam Kahane
—Pea Beans in Ethiopia: Challenges of
Creating New Business Models for Sustainable
Livelihoods, by Don Seville
—The Promise of Systems Thinking for
Shifting Fundamental Dynamics, by Scott Spann
and James Ritchie-Dunham
—Leading from the Future: A New Social
Technology for Our Times, by Otto Scharmer
—Confronting the Tension Between Learning
and Performance, by Amy C. Edmondson and
Sara J. Singer
—Putting the "Relational" Back in Human
Relationships, by Diana McLain Smith
—Learning Through System Dynamics as
Preparation for the 21st Century, by Jay W.
Forrester
—We Can't Keep Meeting LikeThis:
Developing the Capacity for Cross-Sector
Collaboration, by Mille Bojer
With your stimulus discount through April 30, Get
the whole 10-year collection PLUS a 1-year
subscription for just $649 $450
Order
#ST1019CDn
Buy the Volumes 10-19 Collection alone:
$599 $415
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Current subscribers pay just $549 $380
Order #ST1019CDr
"The Dell Theory of Conflict
Prevention argues that no two countries that are both
part of the same global supply chain will ever fight a
war as long as they are each part of that supply chain."
--Thomas Friedman
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