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A free e-newsletter spotlighting systemic thinking
and innovations in leadership, management, and organizational development.
Please forward to your colleagues.
January 22, 2004 Issue 46
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"Great
discoveries and improvements invariably involve
the cooperation of many minds. I may be given
credit for having blazed the trail but when
I look at the subsequent developments, I feel
the credit is due to others rather than to myself."
—Alexander Graham Bell
"People
have to feel needed. Frequently, we just offer
a job and 'perks.' We don't always offer people
a purpose. When people feel there is a purpose
and that they're needed, there's not much else
to do except let them do the work."
—Maya Angelou
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E-Versions
of Innovations in Management Series Now
Available
If you're looking to customize your learning
around leading-edge and foundational topics
in systems thinking, organizational learning,
and management innovation, Pegasus Communications'
Innovations
in Management Series
(IMS) provides an ideal tool
for just that purpose. Concise and comprehensive,
these focused volumes feature in-depth analyses
of the latest management ideas as expressed
by the most prominent thinkers in the business
world.
 For
your convenience, now for the first time
all IMS volumes are available in a PDF version.
Here are some of the exciting benefits of
the electronic format:
• You can quickly search within each issue
for key terms, names, or phrases.
• You can store your issues on your computer,
so they are always easy to find.
• You can click on links to referenced
web sites, additional material, and online resources.
• You can print a copy of each issue for
your own use.
• You can easily purchase rights to distribute
paper copies of the volume to others.
• International customers can avoid overseas
postage fees.
Get the entire set of 18 volumes for
$147.75 (Order
#IMSSET18E). All individual e-IMS volumes cost
$10.95 and are illustrated in black and white.
The right to make additional
paper copies of an e-IMS is $7.50 per
copy.
Below
is a list of all IMS titles, by category:
SYSTEMS
STORIES
Anxiety
in the Workplace: Using Systems Thinking to
Deepen Understanding by Janet M.
Gould et al., Order
#IMS006E, 17 pages
Facing
the Competition: An Organization Mobilizes for
Large-Scale Change by Nagah Ramadan
et al., Order
#IMS011E, 17 pages
Organizational
Change at Philips Display Components: Reflections
on a Learning Journey by Iva M. Wilson,
Order
#IMS012E, 18 pages
Rebounding,
Rebuilding, Renewing at Shell Oil: A Former
CEO Reflects on Large-Scale Change by
Philip J. Carroll, Order
#IMS014E, 15 pages
Reinventing
Human Resources at L.L. Bean: Lessons for Learning
and Change by Deborah Heller, Order
#IMS015E, 18 pages
TOPICS
ON THE LEADING EDGE
From
Mechanistic to Social Systemic Thinking: A Digest
of a Talk by Russell L. Ackoff, Order
#IMS001E, 14 pages
The
Natural Step: A Framework for Achieving Sustainability
in Our Organizations by Karl-Henrik
Robčrt, Order
#IMS005E, 15 pages
The
Soul of Corporate Leadership: Guidelines for
Value-Centered Governance by William
J. O'Brien, Order
#IMS007E, 17 pages
Creating
Sustainable Organizations: Meeting the Economic,
Ecological, and Social Challenges of the 21st
Century by Sara Schley and Joseph
Laur, Order
#IMS008E, 20 pages
Relinking
Life and Work: Toward a Better Future by
Rhona Rapoport et al., Order
#IMS010E, 17 pages
SYSTEMS
THINKING TOOLS AND APPLICATIONS
Applying Systems Archetypes by Daniel
H. Kim and Colleen P. Lannon, Order
#IMS002E, 18 pages
Toward Learning Organizations: Integrating
Total Quality Control and Systems Thinking by
Daniel H. Kim, Order
#IMS003E, 18 pages
Designing
a Systems Thinking Intervention: A Strategy
for Leveraging Change by Michael
Goodman et al., Order
#IMS004E, 17 pages
Introduction
to Systems Thinking by Daniel H.
Kim, Order
#IMS013E, 21 pages
TOPICS
& TOOLS IN ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING
Creating
Value: Linking the Interests of Customers, Employees,
and Investors by Paul O'Malley, Order
#IMS009E, 21 page
The
Essentials of Servant-Leadership: Principles
in Practice by Ann McGee-Cooper and
Gary Looper, Order
#IMS016E, 19 pages
Dialogue
at Work: Skills for Leveraging Collective Understanding
by Glenna Gerard and Linda Ellinor,
Order
#IMS017E, 16 pages
The
Essentials of Appreciative Inquiry: A Roadmap
for Creating Positive Futures by
Bernard J. Mohr and Jane Magruder Watkins, Order
#IMS018E, 12 pages
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Reshaping
Corporations: Adding Value Through Responsible
Business Practices
January
25–27, 2004
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Only three more days before the start of this
hands-on workshop introducing you to Four Profit's
Sustainability Framework, which provides a concrete
vision, practical method and robust set of tools
to help companies improve your sustainability
performance while improving your four bottom lines:
financial, people, environment, and community.
Join us for an intimate gathering that includes
keynotes and small, interactive groups in which
participants apply the framework to their own
compelling business issues with the help of experts
and colleagues.
Learn more about or register for the workshop,
or call Pegasus Communications at 1-781-398-9700.
Team discounts are also available.
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•
Contact
us at Pegasus Communications, One Moody Street,
Waltham, MA 02453-5339. Send an e-mail to info@pegasuscom.com,
or call 781-398-9700. Web site: http://www.pegasuscom.com.
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Send
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Pegasus Communications provides resources that
help people explore, understand, articulate,
and address the challenges they face in the
complexities of a changing world. Since 1989,
Pegasus has worked to build a community of practitioners
through The
Systems Thinker®
Newsletter, books, audio and videotapes, and
its annual Systems
Thinking in Action®
Conference and other events.
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NEW
YEAR'S SPECIAL!
Order
a subscription to The Systems Thinker® and get a
free audio recording from Pegasus Communications. Select
from our most recent Pegasus Conference or from our library of more
than 200 audios from prior conferences. Offer good through March
31, 2004—simply use Priority Code TSTLP46 when you place your
order.
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FACE
TO FACE
The
Systems Thinker in Every Student: An Interview with Mary Scheetz
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FROM
THE RESOURCE SHELF
An
Economy Designed to Sustain the Environment
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PEGASUS
CONFERENCE CORNER
•
Presenter Applications for 2004 Pegasus Conference
• Free
Video Clips of Keynote Presentations from 2003 Pegasus Conference
Now Available Online
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FROM
THE FIELD
Scheduling
Time to Learn
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FACE
TO FACE
The
Systems Thinker in Every Student: An Interview with Mary Scheetz
by Kali Saposnick
 The
Waters Foundation K–12 Educational Partnership consists of
a network of educators who research the impact of using systems
thinking and dynamic modeling (ST/DM) in elementary and secondary
schools; develop the capacity of K–12 educators to apply ST/DM
effectively in classroom instruction and organizational planning;
and disseminate the results of the research and development work.
Mary Scheetz, program director, oversees the foundation's approximately
200 school partnerships as well as manages the local grant site
in the Portland, Oregon, School District. In the following interview,
she describes the importance of bringing this work into school systems
and how the K–12 Partnership creates a powerful network of
support for educators.
Educational research and classroom experience have shown that students
learn best when they spend significant time constructing ideas,
reflecting, and interacting with other students and adults around
new concepts. So it should come as no surprise that students who
are engaged in exploring dynamic complexity in their world become
highly motivated to take their studies deeper—at least not
to the K–12 educators who have been utilizing systems thinking
and dynamic modeling in classrooms across the United States for
more than a decade.
Dynamic complexity refers to the behavior of the kinds of systems
we live in today, in which the outcomes of processes are difficult
to predict because of the intricate web of contributing factors.
Systems thinking and dynamic modeling tools such as causal loop
diagrams, behavior over time graphs, stock and flow diagrams, and
simulation models help us map and explore this type of complexity.
"Not only do these tools offer us unique perspectives on reality
that sharpen our awareness of wholes and of how the parts within
those wholes interrelate," explains Mary Scheetz, "they are perfectly
aligned with what students need to learn about how the world around
them works."
Continue
reading the interview
View additional
resources on systems thinking and dynamic modeling in education
Learn more about the
Waters Foundation
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FROM
THE RESOURCE SHELF
An
Economy Designed to Sustain the Environment
by Andrew Jones and Don Seville
 You
have probably heard of Lester Brown's work before—whether you
know it or not. For three decades, Brown has been dedicated to researching
and communicating the major trends in the world's use of resources,
the health of our ecosystems, and the state of our society. In his
book, Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth (Earth
Policy Institute, 2001), he provocatively argues that "the economic
policies that have yielded the extraordinary growth in the world
economy are the same ones that are destroying its support systems."
Based on that reality, Brown describes the three challenges that
face us: We need to understand how our current economic system and
rate of population growth are incompatible with the way that natural
systems function; we need to create a positive, hopeful vision of
an economy that works in harmony with ecology; and we need to change
the structure of our current economic system to fulfill that vision.
To help us accomplish these goals, he offers practical suggestions
for creating incentives that guide behavior naturally in positive
directions. For example, Brown advocates eco-labeling (providing
information on products labels about environmental practices), tax
shifting (changing not the level but the composition of taxes
to discourage undesirable things, such as toxic waste and emission),
and subsidy shifting (re-directing government subsidies to
favor environmentally constructive activities).
Eco-Economy's focus on moving from understanding the trends
to integrating our economic systems with the ecological world is
appealing to systems thinkers—it helps us understand both the
physical system at work and the rewards and incentives that encourage
our decision-making. This book reminds us that we have practical
policy tools that can guide the economy in a better direction and
inspires us to try again to do so.
Read
the complete article, or see The Systems Thinker,
V13N7 (September 2002)
Subscribe
to The Systems Thinker
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PEGASUS
CONFERENCE CORNER
Presenter Applications for 2004 Pegasus Conference
Applications to present at the 2004 Pegasus Conference, Building
Collaborations to Change Our Organizations and the World: Systems
Thinking in Action® are now available. We are seeking proposals
for concurrent sessions, both application case studies and tools
workshops, that will provide high quality examples of collaboration
in action and will kick our collaborative skills up a notch. We
are especially keen on hosting sessions that vividly show how the
rigor of systems thinking can provide strategic insight and improve
the outcomes for collaborative partners. We also want to include
sessions that focus on other tools or approaches that have helped
collaborative partners find the way to enduring, successful relationships.
Preliminary proposals are due by February 8, 2004.
Get complete
information
If you have any questions, please contact LeAnne
Grillo. Thank you for your interest.
Conference
Registration Information
For a limited time only, register for the 2004 Conference for
$995. Register
on our web site, or call 1-781-398-9700.
SPECIAL OFFER! When
you register, you will receive 10% off Pegasus products purchased
on our web site, from the day you register until the conference
starts on December 1, 2004. (This offer is not applicable to other
conferences or newsletters and cannot be combined with volume discounts.)
The sooner you register, the sooner you'll start saving
on your Pegasus purchases, so sign up today!
 Free
Video Clips of Keynote Presentations from 2003 Pegasus Conference
Now Available Online
Enjoy a front-row seat at last year's Pegasus Conference. Video
clips of keynote presentations are now available in the Pegasus
Media Gallery. These free, 3- to 5-minute clips are designed
for broadband connections and playback in Windows Media Player.
Each offers a hint of the powerfully engaging, insightful presentations
that rocked the conference.
View clips
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FROM
THE FIELD
Scheduling
Time to Learn
Why do organizations fail to learn from their mistakes? Because
most people expect learning just to happen without taking the time
for thought and reflection, which true learning requires. In the
past, with slower communication systems, we often had a few weeks
to ponder and rethink a decision. Today we're accustomed to e-mails,
faxes, overnight letters, and cell phones, and have come to believe
that an immediate response is more important than a thoughtful one.
But without deliberately building in time to engage in thoughtful
learning, most companies end up making hasty and sloppy decisions.
Especially in a crisis, the learning review of a project is the
first task to go. Even when people do find time to debrief, they
often get overwhelmed by what it takes to change behavior, roles,
structures, and processes in order to get new results. Finally,
for real change to occur, people must change—and the rate at
which we do is hard to accelerate, regardless of how fast the world
around us changes.
Still, there are things we can do to facilitate learning. We can
schedule time for learning rather than hope it happens. We can ask
how we might make decisions differently to get different results.
We can identify specific changes in systems, structures, and personal
behaviors that must occur and how they will be implemented. We can
help others understand why change is necessary, even if it isn't
our job to do so. Ultimately, by making learning habitual in our
organizations, we can develop a culture of people committed to change
and growth who can be a powerful force for business success.
—KS
Source: Steven Robbins, "Organizational Learning Is No Accident,"
Harvard Business School Working Knowledge, May 19, 2003
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Copyright 2004 Pegasus Communications. Leverage Points®
can be freely forwarded by e-mail in its entirety. To obtain rights
to distribute paper copies of, reproduce, or excerpt any part of Leverage
Points, please contact permissions@pegasuscom.com.
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