living systems leadership
in many ways, the beings on this earth and the earth itself, are suffering. we see and experience this as tensions and conflict, resource break points, occasionally unintended, but often nonetheless harmful system structures and processes that replicate and amplify over space and time.
we're two of many humans on this planet, and what often keeps us up at night is trying to figure out how to be good ones. how can we be a good human on this earth, trying to make things a little bit better for everyone and everything that is a part of this ecosystem we share with them?
this work is what we have on offer at the moment, in this time and place of history and cultural discombobulation, where most days we can't determine the way up or out, but simply try to feel into the first next step. a step that brought us to the next question, what would it look like to nurture leadership that mirrors living systems themselves: seasonal, self-organizing, biodiverse, layered, betwixt and between, adaptive, and generative?
this is both deeply personal work, requiring us to examine who we are and who we're becoming, and profoundly collective work, recognizing that our liberation is bound up together. it's philosophical in its questioning of fundamental assumptions about power, leadership, and change, and practical in offering concrete frameworks, practices, and roles that can be applied immediately in whatever context you find yourself.
what follows is one answer to our question, on how we can be good humans. the framework has grown through years of practice with people working in complex systems, and we share it as our contribution to a field that many are building together.
it's here to share in the hopes it might offer something to some of you: a little guidance, or direction, an 'ah ha' or pause for reflection. we're not sure it's quite finished yet, but maybe that's because you have a part of this puzzle..
our work in living systems leadership can be travelled down three paths.
we have articulated a theory of change, and a conceptual approach to systems leadership, we have developed guidance on how to build systems leadership capability, and we hold space to learn and practice together in our systems leadership program.
you can choose to pursue any of these paths or continue in the book to read about our learning lineage in systems leadership and read our acknowledgements and thanks to those who have supported this work.
systems leadership learning lineage
this work is only made possible because of so many other brilliant folks in the broader field who have so generously shared their own thinking. what we offer here is simply a next layer for consideration, and of course what we hope might be something that someone else will continue to build on.
let knowledge and wisdom be free flowing so that we might find our way through.
systems leadership at large
- the leadership centre, uk and their reports on systems leadership
- systems leadership in practice: thematic insights from three public health case studies by charlotte bigland, david evans, richard bolden and maggie rae
- leadership in the age of complexity by margaret wheatley and debbie frieze
- the practice of systems leadership, the kings fund
- systems leadership for sustainable development by lisa dreier, david nabarro and jane nelson, the harvard kennedy school
- systems change and deep equity, an interview with sheryl petty and mark leach, change elemental
- systems leadership by global knowledge initiative for usaid
- systems leadership by deborah ghate, jane lewis and david welbourn
- nora bateson, small arcs of larger circles
systems practice
- the waters centre for systems thinking: habits of a systems thinker
- the school for systems change: systems practices
- prof. ray ison: systems practice
- leyla acaroglu: systems practices
- sonja blignaut: 3 habits of mind
- systems sanctuary, tatiana fraser and rachel sinha: systems capabilities + feminist systems change framework
- the inner development goals
- the australian centre for social innovation
we also want to acknowledge and thank our colleagues who offered many conversations, insights and considerations which have deeply informed the development of the framework: grace o'hara, anna rasalingam, emma blomkamp, ray ison.
and our dear systems sanctuary crew that first brought us together, and since then has been a space of deep conversation, stimulating questions, support and growth all around. thank you alice howard-vyse, sam rye and euan black.
roles in leadership
- our initial development of roles in the system through the lens of 'facilitating systems thinking' as taught at the systems school
- our colleagues fiona mckenzie @ orange compass, euan black @ tacsi, the team at the school of systems change, rachel sinha @ the systems studio
- social change now by deepa iyer
- a blog post by emma proud in linkedin
- a comment offered by anna morgan on a linkedin post by adrian robke regarding deepa's model
First Nations wisdom
- Ngarrindjeri Elders & leaders
- First Nations leaders across the world
- Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass
- Dr. Jennifer Grenz, Medicine Wheel for the Planet
- Nancy J. Turner, The Earth's Blanket
natural world & all being connection
- Ngarrindjeri Yarluwar Ruwi
- animate & non-animate beings
- empathetic multispecies design, daniel metcalfe
- the sea change project, including craig foster
- earth species project, asa raskin (co-founder)
- way of the circle centre, jan beaver and martha lucier
acknowledgements
this work didn't arrive fully formed. it grew through conversations, experiments, and the generosity of people willing to think and build alongside me. with fiona mckenzie and alice howard-vyse, back in 2021, and later on more peers, as we opened the door to systems leadership. lina patel, whose work with me on power in the system first planted the seed of the nested model. the systems practice framework continued to evolve from ever trying to answer, what do we do when we do systems thinking? in many collaborative conversations with anna rasalingam and of course my mentor prof. ray ison i was able to further unpack this.
in the last few years, dana shen — co-creator, dear friend, and teacher — with whom i get to play and learn and build every day in our systems leadership program, where we have worked to bring all the bits into cohesion, along with all the peers in that program who bring the wisdom, experience and incredible questions that keep pushing the work forward.
i also want to offer my deep gratitude to the land, skies and waters — from canada to australia and everything in between — that have held me, and taught me throughout my life. to First Nations peoples around the world, whose ways of seeing, knowing, being and doing are not supplementary to this work but foundational to it, the original systems thinkers. to the Anishinaabe, Waddawurrung and Kabi Kabi peoples in particular, whose Country i have been privileged to listen and learn from.
~ seanna
acknowledgements
i've worked in, out and across complex systems for most of my career, this has provided me with wonderful opportunities to learn, be an ally and wayfind and sometimes stumble through these fascinating things we call human systems. i am so appreciative of the many humans that are doing their best. it was a special chance to meet seanna through the systems sanctuary program, as we got to know each other, we knew we had to find a way to continue to work together, and step by step, we finally found our way to the systems leadership program. it is very special to work with a trusted friend!
i am also so grateful to all my family and friends, my Elders who have been role models and particularly my dear Chinese Grandparents. their love was always unconditional (as long as i got a good job and was paid well!) and they always had high expectations of me, they assumed and expected me to do well! this has been most precious.
i also want to acknowledge the Ngarrindjeri Nation, as i find my way home to language and culture, humbly walking the path of my ancestors, i feel strong, and i am glad to share this with others.
ngapi tarnaulo kulyulaink-an ngang-el-ap wunyi yarnd-el-ap. nginti ngul!
(i will never be ashamed of who i am and where i come from!)
~ dana