Resources

August 4, 2022 In HSD, our first Simple Rule is to “Stand in Inquiry.” It is first on the list for a good reason. In today’s emergent and unpredictable world, there are not many answers we can count on. Yesterday’s answers don’t fit today’s questions, and tomorrow’s answers have not emerged yet. The best we can do is find questions in the moment to open the world, access the resources we need, and look toward a productive future. The HSD global community shares a practice that helps us avoid getting stuck in obsolete answers and moves us always toward the next revealing question. In this LVW, Glenda Eoyang talks with us about what it means to “Stand in inquiry.” Learn to find questions to confront the challenges you face when answers of the past are not good enough for your future.

September 5, 2019 You solve problems every day. You help others solve problems every day. You know about multiple decision-making and problem-solving models you can use in different situations. You find, however, that it’s sometimes difficult to be sure which model to use as you deal with the complex challenges you face in today’s world. Sometimes you follow a decision-making model into a rabbit hole, only to get stuck in the confusing swirl of data, meaning making, and possible actions. Historically, most decision models come down to gathering data, analyzing data, making a choice, and acting. The differences from one model to the next have to do with how they collect data, what kind of data they collect, what questions they use to make sense of those data, and ways they move the decision to action. On the other hand, Human Systems Dynamics uses Adaptive Action, in all situations. This iterative cycle of observation, reflection, and action builds on previous learning in each iteration. Pattern Logic and Adaptive Action allow you to focus on the underlying dynamics that shape your challenge or opportunity to move beyond the surface  symptoms of any situation. In this month’s Live Virtual Workshop, Glenda Eoyang shares some of the insights and “tips and traps” she has learned through her rich and varied career using Adaptive Action and Pattern Logic.

May 5, 2022 Two things sustain a complex system: Similarity and difference. The similarity holds the system together with coherence and identity. Difference introduces the potential energy of tension and possibility. Most tools of applied social sciences focus on “common ground.”  Similarity becomes the platform for building a shared future. We avoid difference. We fear it because we don’t know how to capture and channel its power. In HSD, we recognize difference as a source of energy. It is the driver of change. It is the root for learning and growth. It is full of promise and possibility—if we just let ourselves use it. In this LVW, Glenda Eoyang shares tools from HSD to help us recognize and leverage the possibility in difference. Bring your most wicked issues and leave with a plan to see and leverage the possibilities that hide in the differences you dread.