Systems Thinking Foresight

Resource 1

A primary goal of systemic intervention is the improvement of the 'system in question'. The definition of the system in question is often itself a function of multiple stakeholders and is not a fixed object. Boundary critique can be helpful in clarifying the ambiguity, assumptions and the power dynamics around agreeing what the system is that is to be improved and for whose interests. However, there is another dimension of ambiguity which is time. Improvement implies some change from a present condition A to a better future condition B which eventually becomes a new present condition B. Where the environment is about to go through a significant change of pattern (a paradigm shift), the criteria of improvement will be different, depending which paradigm is being considered.

Resource 2

A primary goal of systemic intervention is the improvement of the ‘system in question’. The definition of the system in question is often itself a function of multiple stakeholders and is not a fixed object. Boundary critique can be helpful in clarifying the ambiguity, assumptions and the power dynamics around agreeing what the system is that is to be improved and for whose interests.

Resource 3

Systems Thinking for Foresight is a tentative effort to improve the Foresight practice with the introduction of ideas from systems thinking and suggestions of ways to work with systemic models. For the champions of systems thinking, Foresight triggers and is triggered by new situations, which are not solvable decision-problems, but can be recognized in the environment from their inter-linking elements. Causal relations are less significant, leaving many relationships to depend on the behavioral pattern of an appreciator who is also part of the situation. Boundaries become a matter of debate and dialogue, as situations occur dynamically and are never solved. Appreciation is placed in close nexus with anticipation and learning; this relationship is considered fundamental for the capacity to develop coherent narratives about the future.