Resources

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.

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, Glenda explores 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.

September 21, 2023 In the September HSD Community Commons, we were welcomed by Robin Kilroy, who works with Carla Blanquier and John Murphy to plan and host the HSD Community Commons meetings. Robin introduced Miriam Bayes, who has partnered with Royce Holladay to create an HSD-based in-depth application of HSD in Coaching. The resulting program has been approved by the International Coaching Federation (ICF) for 40 CCE units.  After briefly introducing an overview of the program, Miriam and Royce introduced the group to one of the Models/Methods they have modified from the HSD website. They have adapted the Decision Map to be used by Coaches to understand and support change in their clients. In breakout rooms, the attendees talked about the adapted model in trios and brought their insights and questions back to the larger group. This portion of the meeting ended with a large-group Power of Questions session, introducing it as a tool for coaches to use with their clients and with other coaches to explore some of their most wicked challenges.  Carla closed the meeting, thanking Mirima and Royce for their presentation and all others for their contributions to an engaging session.

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 introduces and deepens the concepts and tools of Pattern Logic to help people everywhere see their way to better outcomes.

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.

June 22, 2023 HSD Community Commons met to hear Janice Ryan share her "HSD Journey" and how she has continued to learn more about HSD, even as she has used it to build her practice with people who have dementia and with divergent learners. Her story is a powerful one and is captured in this video.  In the session, Glenda Eoyang, founder of the field of Human Systems Dynamics and Executive Director of the HSD Institute talked about the next phase of growth and development in the field. She talked about upcoming changes and efforts to strengthen the HSD network beyond the dependence on the HSD Institute. Listen to her compelling story and consider how you might step in to help frame the next steps.

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