2016-02-17
February 17 is the thirty-third meeting for Systems Thinking Ontario.
Systems of Governance Across Scales: Heterarchies, Holacracies, Democracies and The Society of Mind.
Inherent in systems thinking is the interdependence of diverse components and their interaction to produce something new – seemingly, something of higher order – a “System”. And despite the diversity of influences attributable to the parts – we nevertheless conceive of the system as a singular whole that moves – in at least some respects – as one. In governing this emergent “movement” of the system toward some effect or outcome - are there discernible patterns of interdependence and interaction of components that transcend the material composition of the system or the scale at which it operates?
Venue:
Suggested preparatory readings:
The following readings are drawn from diverse realms and speak in their own ways to this theme of systems governing systems.
Warren McCulloch's paper A Heterarchy of Values Determined by the Topology of Nervous Nets published in the 1945 Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics.
Media pieces about Holacracy at Zappos:
For supplemental readings - and, in part to note the passing of Marvin Minsky last month - some related excerpts from his book The Society of Mind:
S_of_M_Excerpt_1
S_of_M_Excerpt_2
Participants should not feel limited to the suggested readings, but should recognize that other attendees may have not read, or are reading differently, that content.
Agenda
Post-meeting artifacts
Bloggers are encouraged to write about their learning and experiences at the meeting. Links will be added to this page.