Complexity is more than an idea—it describes the world where you work and play. You and your clients make decisions and take action when you don’t have enough information, time, or power to control what happens next. Yesterday’s solutions are not good enough for today, and they certainly won’t work in the unpredictable future. What does work? What prepares you to thrive, regardless of what the world throws at you?
Adaptive Capacity. It is the ability to see what is happening with new eyes, to understand change in useful ways, and to take action—in the moment—to shape change as it emerges. Adaptive Capacity prepares you to be a more effective human being, while you develop your professional skills and abilities. You will:
- Choose grace and wisdom in moments of chaos and disruption
- Understand and influence systemic change
- Rely on networks for information and support
- Give up tried-and-true answers to stand in inquiry
- Learn in action
- Engage and learn across differences
- Strive for wellbeing for yourself and others
- Respect and leverage the power of complexity
Human Systems Dynamics (HSD) gives you concepts and tools to supercharge your practice today and build your Adaptive Capacity for tomorrow. You and your clients will be more prepared for whatever the future might bring.
Rooted in chaos and complexity theory, HSD helps you recognise unpredictable, emergent patterns in today’s social and economic systems. It gives you models for understanding complexity and methods to take adaptive action to influence change as it emerges from chaos and uncertainty. Associates around the world use HSD to:
- Coach individuals and teams to be more agile and productive, even when they cannot predict or control the future
- Lead public and private institutions as they respond to radical and unpredictable change
- Consult with companies and communities as they strive to improve performance, as well as health and wellbeing for individuals, families, and communities
- Re-design systems of education, healthcare, international development, and government at all levels to meet the needs of people and the planet
If you are in the business of making change, resolving conflict, or helping teams and individuals work more effectively – HSD certification is a simple, but powerful, approach that will enable you to take informed action that delivers results.
Faculty & Coaches
Glenda isn’t just an HSD expert—she is the founder of the field. A master teacher with deep insights into the art and science of self-organizing systems. Dr. Glenda Eoyang applies principles of self-organizing to help people thrive in unpredictable environments. She has certified more than 1,000 Associates, forming a global network of HSD practitioners. Her published works include numerous scholarly and practical articles, and she has authored and co-authored five books: Coping with Chaos: Seven Simple Tools; Facilitating Organizational Change: Lessons from Complexity Science; Voices from the Field: An Introduction to Human Systems Dynamics; Adaptive Action: Leveraging Uncertainty in Your Organization; and Radical Rules for Schools: Adaptive Action and Complex Change.
Griff supports clients in breaking ingrained habits of thinking and finding new ones that serve them better. Originally working in the IT industry, principally for consultancies in London and Rotterdam, he eventually became more interested in teams than technology and moved into coaching and Organisation Development. Griff’s education in environmental science and engineering shows up in his approach to OD, with a strong bias towards methods that draw on complexity science. Recent projects include supporting a local government team in building the capability to generate solutions to family homelessness; analysing the flexibility of hospital leaders during the pandemic; enabling culture change in a maternity unit through stories and tensions; developing the collaborative leadership of impact investors through action research; and supporting the senior leadership team of a mining company to make the shift from individual management to collaborative leadership. He’s been using and teaching HSD for a decade.
