Triple-loop learning and conversing with reality

Purpose: Three levels of learning developed by Gregory Bateson in the tradition of second-order cybernetics have in-part been translated in terms of double-loop and triple-loop learning, particularly in the tradition of systems thinking. Learning III and triple-loop learning have gained less popularity since they deal with less tangible issues regarding virtues of wisdom and justice respectively. This paper provides a learning device – the systems thinking in practice heuristic which helps to retrieve the cybernetic concern for wisdom in association with an often forgotten systems concern for real-world power relations. Approach: Using ‘conversation’ as a metaphor the heuristic is introduced based on three orders of conversation. Drawing on ideas of systemic triangulation, another heuristic device – the systemic triangulator – is used to surface issues of power in the three orders of conversation. Some manifestations in using the systems thinking in practice heuristic for supporting postgraduate systems learning are demonstrated. Findings: Some key complementarities between conventionally opaque cybernetic issues of wisdom and systems issues of power are revealed, and used proactively to explore more effective coaching of systems thinking in practice. Implications: Cybernetics and Systems thinking may benefit from being grounded more in understanding, engaging with, and transforming social realities. The heuristics provide practical experiential and meaningful learning through conversation, and more social premium for the study of cybernetics and systems thinking. Originality/value: The heuristics – systems thinking in practice, and the systemic triangulator provides an innovative cyber-systemic space for learning and action

Evaluating diagramming as praxis

Researching into systemic failure associated with complex situations of environmental sustainability involves many different interactions amongst many different entities (human and non-human). For example, the trigger of global warming (caused primarily by use of fossil fuels in developed countries) has encouraged the rapid development of biofuel agriculture through grants from rich countries in the global North to Brazil and other tropical countries in the global South. This has generated what Sawyer (2008) calls an eco-social collapse: involving both ecological problems (deforestation, pesticide pollution, etc.) and socio-economic problems (particularly with concentration of land tenure, very poor working conditions for those forced to provide cheap labour for biofuel plantations, and increasing food prices for the population). To what extent might such a situation arise from breakdowns in the quality of communications? Apart from researching the importance of inter-human communication, there might also be important factors associated with the quality of our ‘communication’ with the natural world. In this chapter I use the metaphor of ‘conversation’ for describing praxis. The chapter weaves together three stories about diagramming as a means of developing sustainability through praxis. The first story provides some context. It is about evaluation in the field of sustainable development, and particularly the conversation between what might be called big ‘E’ evaluation – institutionalised demands for evidence-based guarantors or assurances for successful interventions as expected, for example, by funders of research – and small ‘e’ evaluation – the multitude of practices including visual based tools that may contribute towards developing value in, for example, a funded research project. The story tracks the growing importance of what has been called ‘developmental evaluation’ (Patton, 2011) – a tradition involving research evaluation – as a means of conversing between big ‘E’ and small ‘e’. The second and third stories track the history of a particular diagram developed by the author; a representation of praxis that has been shaken-up, messed-about with, and adapted for different uses during the past 15 years. The first of these two stories relates to representing the praxis of environmental responsibility (as a core constituent of developing environmental sustainability), and the second relates to making visual representations of developmental evaluation. Both stories narrate the changing form of the diagramming to suit particular needs. The purpose here is to demonstrate how a diagrammatic representation might allow space for ‘conversation’ at different levels of practice, including disciplinary (amongst specialist experts), interdisciplinary (between different experts) and transdisciplinary (between experts and civil society) practices. Weaving the stories together, a mapping tool – the heuristic of systemic triangulation – is presented as a systems-based influence diagram. The tool can be used for evaluating interventions at different levels, including the intervention of using visual techniques

Communicating about systems and complexity:from contingency to praxis

The chapter is part of a special Gedenkschrift publication honoring the work of Professsor Brenda Zimmerman in the field of complexity thinking. The term, Gedenkschrift, borrowed from German, can be translated as celebration publication. It is a memorial publication honoring a respected person, especially an academic, created and presented posthumously. The tribute tracks the influence of Brenda's work in formulating the heuristic developed by the author for teaching systems thinking in practice (STiP) as part of the postgraduate programme on STiP at the Open University

Reaping the rewards of learning within agricultural knowledge systems: An account of a PhD learning system

Despite the existence and application of mandatory agri-environmental policy for many decades, significant environmental sustainability problems remain attributable to the agricultural sector. Participatory types of extension practices are believed to have a potential to enable extension organisations to enhance the supports provided to farmers to help meet the requirements and objectives of these policies. To test this proposition, the PhD researcher used a learning systems approach for exploring the interplay between farmer subjectivities, the European Union’s policy of cross compliance and the extension practices of Teagasc, the Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority. Three learning sub-systems were employed in the investigation. The first used the principles of Participatory Action Research for revealing stakeholders’ perceptions of Teagasc’s cross compliance extension service. This process resulted in the attainment of rich insights about extension practices, however it also revealed that a significant number of farmers were experiencing socio-cultural difficulties with the application and enforcement of cross compliance. To better understand the implications of these subjectivities, a second sub-system was created to learn about farmers’ experiences of the policy. This process surfaced diverse insights about farmers’ personal experiences of cross compliance. A final sub-system employed systems thinking and practice for appraising the utility of the learning arising from the previous sub-systems for improving interactions between farmers, extension organisations and cross compliance. The combined findings of the thesis indicate that there is considerable potential for extension organisations to use participatory practices for developing rich understandings of farmers’ preferences for mandatory agri-environmental policy and its related extension practices. However, a limitation in realising participant preferences is that extension organisations appear to have little influence over the application and enforcement of mandatory agri-environmental policy. Overcoming this participatory barrier will require sustained collective learning targeted at understanding how stakeholders can work together to develop agri-environmental policies that are socially, financially and environmentally sustainable. This paper explores how this ‘sustained collective learning’ may be realised taking a specific account of the learnings developed within and following the completion of the PhD Learning System. The insights elucidated will be of interest to scholars and extension practitioners involved in similar learning endeavours

The Ever-Changing Personality: Revisiting the Concept of Triple-Loop Learning

Purpose - Considering personality as changeable through a bottom-up process of altering states, habits and traits, constitutes a shift in the predominant paradigm within personality psychology. The purpose of this paper is to reconsider Bateson's theory of learning and organizational triple-loop learning in light of this recent empirical evidence. Design/methodology/approach - This paper uses a multi-disciplinary conceptual approach. Based on an integrative analysis of literature from recent work in personality psychology, four dimensions (process, content, time and context) are identified that allow linking personality change and triple-loop learning. Findings - Identifying a bottom-up process of changing states, habits and traits as being central to change personality, allows for reconsidering Bateson's theory of learning as a theory of personality development (Learning II) and personality change (Learning III). Functionally equivalent, organizational triple-loop learning is conceptualized as a change in an organization's identity over time that may be facilitated through a change in responding to events and a change in the organization's routines. Practical implications - Interventions that change how organizations respond to events and that change the routines within an organization may be suitable to facilitate triple-loop learning in terms of changing organizational identity over time. Originality/value - This paper contributes to the discussion on Bateson's theory of learning and organizational triple-loop learning. As interest in personality change grows in organization studies, this paper aims to transfer these findings to organizational learning

Chapter 7 Epilogue: Systems Approaches and Systems Practice

Each of the five systems approaches discussed in this volume: system dynamics (SD), the viable systems model (VSM), strategic options development and analysis (SODA), soft systems methodology (SSM) and critical systems heuristics (CSH) has a pedigree. Not in the sense of the sometimes absurd spectacle of animals paraded at dog shows. Rather, their pedigree derives from their systems foundations, their capacity to evolve and their flexibility in use. None of the five approaches has developed out of use in restricted and controlled contexts of either low or high levels of complicatedness. Neither has any one of them evolved as a consequence of being applied only to situations with either presumed stakeholder agreement on purpose, or courteous disagreement amongst stakeholders, or stakeholder coercion. The compilation is not a celebration of abstract methodologies’, but of theoretically robust approaches that have a genuine pedigree in practice

Expanding our understanding of effective entrepreneurship and leadership processes : an application to the wine sector

"May 2014."Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Thomas G. Johnson.Includes vita.The recent economic recession in the U.S. and in the E.U. is enhancing entrepreneurship processes around the world. Old forms of production are becoming obsolete along with old ways of organizing the economy and society. This scenario and the emergence of new leadership processes have prompted an increase in entrepreneurship focused on the needs of new niches. However, not all entrepreneurship and leadership processes have been successful in achieving their goals. Research on entrepreneurship and leadership has identified the need to further understand the dynamic features of these processes and their complexity. One of the sectors in the U.S. that has shown major growth during the last decade is the wine sector. The increase of national and international market competition in the wine sector has prompted new entrepreneurship and leadership processes in this sector. As a result, it seems timely and appropriate to expand our understanding of effective entrepreneurship and leadership processes in the U.S. wine industry. The dissertation's main contributions are to: (a) expand the understanding of the dynamics of entrepreneurship, (b) expand the understanding of how human cognition relates to its contexts in order to make entrepreneurship effective, (c) identify two types of leadership that are key for achieving companies' sustained competitive advantage, (d) expand the understanding of how human cognition relates to its contexts in order to make leadership effective, (e) identify the structures (traits and processes) that effective entrepreneurship and leadership share, (f) identify the synergies between entrepreneurship and leadership, and (g) bring useful insights to the nine wineries interviewed so that they can address their current challenges more effectively. Results indicate that there is a co-evolutionary process between entrepreneurs' cognition and their surroundings. The key elements that enhance the success of entrepreneurship processes are: (a) a clear vision and mission, (b) the ability to undergo deeIncludes bibliographical references (pages 201-214)

Application of theory U to assess the implementation possibilities of a co-existence agenda at Panna Tiger Reserve, India.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.This thesis develops understanding on the prospects of successfully implementing a co-existence buffer zone agenda around the Panna Tiger Reserve by its management. Fostering co-existence of humans and wildlife in the buffer zones and multi-use forests around tiger reserves is suggested as a way forward by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) of India for ensuring the long term survival of the tiger species in India. The proposed shift involves change from managing tigers in national parks with minimum human interference to the managing tigers at larger land units promoting co-existence. While successful implementation of the proposed change may have potential benefits for tigers and people, the failure to implement the proposed co-existence agenda will be an opportunity lost to revive the tiger species in India. To provide understanding on the above described situation, the main research objective of this study was to use Theory U lenses to assess the potential of key stakeholders to engage in transformational change towards co-existence. The second research objective was to identify the barriers, as perceived by the stakeholders seeking transformational change, to co-existence. To gain insights into the study objectives, stakeholders from the five groups were interviewed using structured questions, subjected to group meetings and were also observed as they performed in daily life. The collected information allowed an assessment of prospects of implementing change to co-existence. The study findings suggest that the concept of co-existence buffer zone is not well supported by majority of the stakeholder groups at Panna. Stakeholder interrelationships leading to lack of trust, existing conflicts, leadership deficiencies, fear of economic repercussion and poor communication created barriers between various stakeholder groups. Some of the barriers, for example, lack of trust and existing conflicts between stakeholder groups distanced the groups from each other and reduced mutual cooperation, vital for co-existence to succeed. Study findings also revealed that some stakeholder groups viewed the co-existence concept positively. Findings suggest that some stakeholder’s placed importance on issues such as, aesthetics, ethics and moral principles, spiritual values, customs and cultural beliefs and economic incentives. These issues perceived within the context of co-existence in the buffer zone may have incited positive feelings towards the co-existence concept. When stakeholders were assessed through the mental lenses of Theory U the study findings suggest that stakeholder groups differed in their ability to change and also support the proposed change to co-existence at Panna Tiger Reserve. Study findings suggest that members of the Landlord and Villager stakeholder groups may be most receptive to change. Members of these stakeholder groups, through their thinking and actions, demonstrated ability to support the proposed change to co-existence in the buffer zone of the Panna Tiger Reserve. The Politician and Tourist lodge groups demonstrated levels of openness to change their thinking towards co-existence but did not show enough evidence during the study to suggest that they could undertake actions and contribute towards transformational change at Panna. This means that though members could mentally think along the lines of the proposed change their ability to directly take actions to achieve change, was at the time of the study, limited. The Panna Tiger Reserve management group members revealed least ability to shift their thinking from their existing mind set towards co-existence scenarios. Their ability to take actions that led towards achieving change to co-existence was also restricted. Based on the study findings it may be suggested that Panna Tiger Reserve Management ability to directly contribute to successful implementation of the proposed co-existence buffer zone agenda at Panna Tiger Reserve may be the lowest amongst the five stakeholder groups

Strategic Decisions Creation-Implementation (SDCI) process: an empirical study

The aim of this research was to explore empirically how firms create and implement strategic decisions (SD’s). The research was inspired by the need to understand further organizational process underpinning SD’s phenomenon and potentially contribute to the overall performance of firms. Previous research on SD’s has been focusing on the formal strategic planning approaches, which have been criticized for their highly prescriptive views of SD’s, separating creation from implementation, and focusing on the content and discrete elements rather than the holistic process. Despite all these studies, our understanding of the actual nature of the SD phenomenon from creation to implementation remains incomplete. Motivated by the need to look empirically and holistically at this very complex social phenomenon, this research problematizes the above aspects of SD’s literature and positions this research within a wider social and descriptive process based approach. The research employed qualitative and Analytic Induction (AI) methodologies, and addressed the above need in three projects. The objective of each project has evolved and lead to the emergence of the final findings, which suggest a possible answer to the overall research aim. The Scoping Study proposed a theoretical framework of successful SD’s implementation factors. Project 1 went further and investigated these factors empirically. Project 2 developed empirically the process of how people actually create and implement SD’s. In Project 3, this process was analysed through the theoretical lens of the sensemaking perspective and was applied by practitioners through an empirically tested diagnostic tool. This research has made a step towards a better understanding of SD’s in practice and contributed to the academic knowledge by proposing a different, yet viable descriptive process, which can improve the overall quality of the SD’s, and potentially lead to better performance