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CAS - complex adaptive system
HSD - human systems dynamics
v [Glenda Eoyang] Human systems dynamics... strive to bring complexity down to earth and put it in the hands of real people doing real work. In Simple Rules, Royce and Mallary do just that.
v Simple Rules outlines the practical tools and methods that make it easier to be curious and practical. It provides the tools I need to navigate unknown terrain
p.5 Simple rules are those specific, uncomplicated instructions that guide behavior and create the structure within which human beings can live their lives. They come from an individual's beliefs, values, and understandings about the world. They allow people to create the context for how they function - how they show the world what they value and understand. Simple rules generate the questions that light the signal fires as people find their ways in life.
p.5 Look around you. Your life is made up of complex patterns.
p.10 Our premise is that simple rules help you make choices about how you participate in your life - day-to-day and minute-by-minute. They provide the means by which you can influence and shift your actions and the patterns in your life toward fitness.
p.18-19 So, what exactly is a system? It is a collection of individuals or parts that interrelate with, and mutually depend on, one another to function as a working whole.
p.20 The parts of a system function interdependently toward a common purpose or particular outcome, and the combination of these parts gives the system properties or qualities not found in any of the separate pieces alone.
p.21 All social systems are open to outside influences... When something in a complex system goes wrong, parts of the system respond and adapt. Don't even bother to look for a root cause
p.23 Complex means something is composed of many interdependent parts and is inherently unpredictable.
p.24-25 Human beings live and work in complex adaptive systems (CAS). Complex reflects the parts of the system and subsystems are connected in multiple ways, and they are mutually supporting and reliant. You cannot change one thing without having an impact on everything else - in either big ways or small... we cannot know how any one change will impact the whole... Adaptive expresses the capacity to change, react, or adjust in response to actions, behaviors, or conditions of the system's environment. As the parts of the system respond to changes in the environment or in each other, they shift conditions across the system. Each part of a system seeks fitness as it responds to shifts around it. in a complex system, the sole purpose of adaptation is to seek fitness and contribute to sustainability.
p.25-26 To make sense of the world and work toward greater fit, a CAS will adjust (adapt) to the demands of its environment, responding to changes. This is a constant and continuous process of self-organizing. Simply put, self-organization is the ongoing work of the parts of the system as they do what it takes to help the system adjust to environmental influences... The system is the self
p.27 It is curious to remember that self-organization is a continuous process. Self-organization happens whether we are looking or not - whether we are paying attention or not. It is automatic - we don't choose to or choose not to self-organize. We respond to changes in our world... Self-organization is active: choosing, adapting, and then potentially thriving.
p.27-28 In Human Systems Dynamics (HSD), patterns are defined as similarities, differences, and relationships that have meaning over space and time.
p.33 These three primary conditions - containers, differences, and exchanges - exist in every complex adaptive system, and it is the interplay between them and among them that determines patterns and system-wide culture.
p.34 Conditions for our own self-organization are easy to discern and can be distilled down to three simple questions.
- Who am I? (The Container)
- What is important to me? (The Difference)
- How do I want to/ How do I connect with others? (The exchanges)
p.35 The simple rules are your foundation. They guide your decisions, actions, and responses in ways that help you shift the conditions to create patterns of health and productivity. By engaging in an internal dialogue of inquiry and intention, you can bring about the changes you want to see. It is time to begin that dialogue with yourself.
p.40 we suggest that every individual has a set of simple rules that governs behavior on a day-to-day basis, and those behaviors, over time, create patterns that characterize who they are and what they are about.
p.41 If you articulate your list of simple rules, they can help you know, at any given moment, how you should behave, relevant to what is important.
p.41 Simple rules are at one and the same time the essence and result of your decision making.
p.44 Simple rules guide behavior in consistent ways... [they] are broad statements that provide general direction, rather than just narrow, specific instructions... [they] should be applicable in an infinite number of situations... Simple rules are generalizable - they guide you in almost any area of your life, no matter the context.
p.47 Simple rules work because, once you have formed habits around them, you don't have to keep repeating them to yourself to remember to use them - just like birds are in the habit of flying together without running into each other. Simple rules become a part of individuals' automatic responses and formulate the habits of their actions. Remember, habits are patterns, too.
p.49 Simple rules help inform reactions and interactions as people respond. They help them remain true to what's important as they consider the myriad challenges, options, and opportunities that come along. They make choices in the moment, every moment as they play out their strategies to survive and thrive.
p.50 We believe in the power of simple rules to create the essence of your life. We have designed a process to help guide you through a careful and thorough exploration of the patterns in your life and the simple rules that inform your actions. We call this process Radical Inquiry.
p.55,56 complex systems are being called upon to adapt more quickly and also to a wider variety of challenges and opportunities than ever before... At all levels, people seek appropriate answers to these challenges. Responses must continue to meet the needs of the system, wherever people stand and however they seek to help. This demands that responses are sensitive, flexible, energetic, and rigorous.
p.58-59 A model for planning and implementing desired change has emerged in human systems dynamics. It is called Adaptive Action and has been used to facilitate change in a wide range of systems. The methodology consists of three questions, simplified versions of the essential questions listed above:
These straightforward questions inform decision making and action by capturing good information about patterns in the system.
p.66 success in the Adaptive Action Cycle is about inquiry. It's about what you learn and how you use that
p.67 Trying to bring about significant, sustainable change in patterns of behavior and interaction is no easy task, even when people know what needs to be done. What is more difficult is being able to make careful, sensible choices in the day-to-day, moment-to-moment times of life. The Legacy Sustainability Model, the second tool, offers a blueprint for building lasting change across a system.
p.67 Sustainability requires that a system be strong enough at its root to allow for flexible, adaptive responses to the changing world.
p.67 The Legacy Sustainability Model frames this level of flexible strength, by introducing seven elements for you to consider as you move toward your goals.
- How are we connected to others?
- How and with whom do we communicate?
- How do we continuously assess our work?
- How do we gain commitment for our work?
- What constructs document our expectations?
- How do we maintain coherence internally and externally?
- How do we build capacity in our people and in our organization?
p.77 The three tools that have been introduced to you so far - Simple Rules, the Adaptive Action Cycle, and the Legacy Sustainability Model - allow you to be more specific and focused. Together these tools set the stage as they help you:
- Articulate what is important; what matters most
- Identify patterns to change
- name the outcomes you want
- Map out actions to move you toward your goals
- Engage others to support and reinforce the change
- Find ways to sustain the new patterns over time
We offer a process you and anyone else can use to bring about this level of change in your life... Radical Inquiry is the process that can light your next signal fire.
p.77 When you seek to understand and change your life for the better, you recognize and set the conditions for learning and transformation... As a result, you need to stand in a place of inquiry, asking informed questions that help you see the patterns that make up your life.
p.78 Radical Inquiry is a personal process that takes you down your own unique path reflecting on or answering a series of questions to clarify your thinking. Then it guides you to use those answers to sort through options about what you can do, what you need to do, what you might like to do, and what is possible in creating the patterns you want to see.
p.79 The process of radical inquiry
- Define your current pattern
- Define the pattern you want
- Picture the conditions to generate that pattern
- Check desired patterns against your diagram
- Write simple rules to generate your patterns
p.95 This, then, is the essence of a Radical Inquiry. It is an honest and thorough examination of one area of your life, with the goal of finding the most effective and efficient ways of bringing about meaningful and lasting change.
p.99 Step 1 - Define Your Current Pattern
- Identify your current life patterns...
- Ask trusted others how they characterize or describe you in the area of life you choose as your focus.
- Start keeping a journal... to see what patterns you can see.
- Consider your behaviors in areas relative to the one you choose to focus on
p.101 Step 2 - Define the patterns you want
What is it you really want in life and what are the patterns of behavior and interaction that will get you there?
- Draw three overlapping circles to form a Venn diagram... In the center, where all three circles overlap, put the one or two words that most clearly describe what it is you want.
- Answer the question in the top circle, "Who are you?" in the context of what you want. This question really is about what draws you in or would hold you in this area of life. What is it? or How is it you want to be in this area of life?
- Put a descriptor of "What is important to you?" in the lower left circle. What is the critical factor or concept related to the idea that will influence your decisions?
- Answer the question "How do you want to connect with others?" in the lower right circle.
p.103 Step 3 - Check Desired Patterns Against the Diagram
p.104 We asked ourselves, "If these three questions are designed to generate specific patterns, what patterns will be generated by our responses?"
p.105 Step 4 - Write Your Simple Rules and Test Them
Now you are ready to write your simple rules. Ask yourself, "What are the 5-7 broad rules you could write that would, if you followed them, shape your behavior according to the descriptors you have written?" Keep the list short... Keep the rules simple... Start each rule with a verb and make it a positive statement. Always say what you need to do... You want the rules to tell you how to act or what to do... the simple rules should be... generalizable
p.111 Identify one pattern to shift, and plan to change it.
p.138 As you have seen, it was through a thoughtful and exciting process that we discovered and distilled our own simple rules.
p.138 There is no trick here. Once you have answered your three critical questions of Who are you? What is important to you? and How do you want to connect with others? - in other words set the conditions - you begin to learn more about yourself and what you need to do to establish and build self-hope [JLJ - from p.139, to be able to appreciate and negotiate ambiguities and surprises as they emerge].
p.139 Simple rules set the conditions for the patterns you want to generate. They create coherence and continuity, so they are, by their very nature, going to overlap.
p.139 Life is full of unexplainable possibilities and seeming contradictions; the best we can hope for is to be able to appreciate and negotiate ambiguities and surprises as they emerge.
p.139 It is not enough merely to state simple rules, you have to understand in real, concrete terms what they actually mean in day-to-day interactions.
p.141 Here's how it works. Write down your own simple rules. Underneath each simple rule, make two lists with the headings of Knowing and Doing. In the Knowing column, write three or four statements that describe what that rule means to you. In the second column, Doing, write three or four specific examples of how that rule will change or influence your actions.
p.147 a definition of power... "ability to influence"
p.148 Our plan is not to take over the world; it is to empower you to shift your patterns and create your own simple rules to live a purposeful life. And we have offered a series of tools and approaches to support you in creating your own signal fires along that journey.
p.150 Simple rules are all about action... taking steps to move toward a sustainable, productive life. You have used Radical Inquiry to go deep into who you are and create your own simple rules. Now it's time to take action... Once you realize the power of simple rules and the Radical Inquiry process, you will see endless possibilities in your own life.
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