Live Virtual Workshops and HSD Community Commons

April 6, 2023

In General Systems Theory, Von Bertalanffy laid the foundation for the field of systems science. He focused on closed systems. They were bounded, complex, sometimes unpredictable, but ultimately knowable. Under some circumstances, such closed system models give us insight into human systems from the individual to the global scales, but not always. Sometimes, humans—alone or in groups—transcend their boundaries. When they do, their natures and their futures can become unknowable. Human Systems Dynamics was developed to inform understanding and action in human systems that work outside the bounds of Bertalanffy’s traditional systems logic.

Join this webinar to explore how HSD gives options for insight and intentional action, even when the system and its future are essentially unknowable.

May 4, 2023

Children’s conversations often end with, “Yes, it is!” “No, it isn’t!” “Yes, it is!” The stakes can be much higher when adults fall into such a pointless exchange. The more power and privilege the people hold, the more distressing and destructive such “discussions” become. What is the alternative?

In HSD we depend on Four Truths to help us navigate the turbulent waters of completing claims. Drawn from the 20h Century philosophy of Jurgen Habermas, the Four Truths open options for individual reflection and shared understanding to escape the traps of competing perspectives.

Join this Live Virtual Workshop to see how the Four Truths can help you get and stay unstuck from old habits of thinking, talking, and acting.

June 1, 2023

Most people agree that there is no “getting back to normal.” Still, many of us hope for a time in the future when change slows down, the world stabilizes, and we can at last redefine what it is to be in a “new normal.” The problem is that complex dynamics are often unstable. They shift from one semi-stable state to the next, passing through various levels of turbulence in between.  There is no golden future where change stops and normal returns. Instead, we live in the turbulent space between more-or-less-stable states. In any moment, we must remember the past, cope with the present, and prepare for whatever is next. We are always prepared for the “next normal.”

In this Live Virtual Workshop, we will explore concepts and tools to help you deepen your preparedness for whatever is next for you, your team, organization, or community

June 22, 2023

The Community Commons meetings are for HSD practitioners, wherever they are in their journey. The meetings will be an opportunity for HSD folks to:

• Report on what they’ve learned from putting HSD into practice
• Engage in experiential learning with other HSD associates through interacting and practicing with HSD tools
• Test out ideas, get feedback, and gather advice from HSD practitioners on HSD-informed projects
• Use the HSD hive-mind for some “so what-ing” through Power of Questions, brainstorming, open discussion, etc.

This will be a space for reconnecting with the HSD community, to make the ongoing bridge between theory and practice, to meet other practitioners for possible future collaborations, and to have fun!

August 3, 2023

Change is perpetual in a complex system, so your response must be perpetual, too. What worked yesterday will probably not meet the same needs in an emergent future. Because of the inevitability of change, you must develop resilience that serves you across time and challenge. We see resilience as finding what is fit for function now and in an emerging future, not returning to some earlier state of happy equilibrium. 

In this Live Virtual Workshop, you will learn some simple rules for finding adaptive responses to help you thrive in unpredictable and inevitable change.

September 7, 2023

Your options for action depend on what you see. What you see depends on what you look for. If you are looking for problems and barriers, you will surely find them. Then your only choice will be to solve the problems and break down the barriers. This is great as long as it works, but you will be totally stuck when you run into problems without solutions or impermeable barriers. In those moments, you need better ways to see and more options for action.

Pattern Logic multiplies your options for action because it helps you see hidden potential instead of problems and barriers.  This LVW will introduce and deepen the concepts and tools of Pattern Logic to help people everywhere see their way to better outcomes.

September 21, 2023

The Community Commons meetings are for HSD practitioners, wherever they are in their journey. The meetings will be an opportunity for HSD folks to:

• Report on what they’ve learned from putting HSD into practice
• Engage in experiential learning with other HSD associates through interacting and practicing with HSD tools
• Test out ideas, get feedback, and gather advice from HSD practitioners on HSD-informed projects
• Use the HSD hive-mind for some “so what-ing” through Power of Questions, brainstorming, open discussion, etc.

This will be a space for reconnecting with the HSD community, to make the ongoing bridge between theory and practice, to meet other practitioners for possible future collaborations, and to have fun!

October 5, 2023

In times of chaos and confusion, a good question will serve you much better than any answer. Answers shift and deceive, while questions keep you open to learning and adaptation.

In this workshop, we will explore two powerful practices that will help you and your teams stay in adaptive inquiry. This virtual workshop is for anyone who is ready to thrive in whatever future emerges.

November 2, 2023

We all know a simple, structured process for making decisions. We also know when and how that process fails. The simple step-by-step falls apart when change is fast, information is unreliable, and perspectives are multiple. In the 1990s decision scientists named the “garbage can” approach to explain the real world of decision making in action, but this random approach is not fast or robust enough to respond to challenges today or tomorrow. 

HSD acknowledges the complex and emergent dynamics of decision making and provides a tool to help make it explicit and reasonable. This session introduces the Decision Map and gives you a chance to practice using it on your own most wicked challenges, whether you are new to HSD or have been using HSD at home, at work, or at play.

December 7, 2023

Three conditions influence the path, speed, and outcome of self-organizing processes. When you see the three conditions, you can understand the current patterns as they emerge at any level of human experience. When you understand the patterns, you can take action to alter the conditions. When you alter the conditions, you shift the pattern as it emerges. 

This Live Virtual Workshop is a master class in using the CDE Model to see, understand, and influence the complex contexts in which you work and play.

December 21, 2023

The Community Commons meetings are for HSD practitioners, wherever they are in their journey. The meetings will be an opportunity for HSD folks to:

• Report on what they’ve learned from putting HSD into practice
• Engage in experiential learning with other HSD associates through interacting and practicing with HSD tools
• Test out ideas, get feedback, and gather advice from HSD practitioners on HSD-informed projects
• Use the HSD hive-mind for some “so what-ing” through Power of Questions, brainstorming, open discussion, etc.

This will be a space for reconnecting with the HSD community, to make the ongoing bridge between theory and practice, to meet other practitioners for possible future collaborations, and to have fun!