The Leading Sapiens Weekly

One of my all-time favorite books is Thinking in Systems: A Primer by Donella Meadows. Towards the end, she has a collection of “systems wisdoms” that I regularly revisit.

The reason? As leaders, in fact as human beings, it’s easy to get into the “control and conquer” mode and forget that it’s a “dance”. Trying to control that which can’t by definition is a recipe for perennial frustration and misplaced efforts.

For those who stake their identity on the role of omniscient conqueror, the uncertainty exposed by systems thinking is hard to take. If you can’t understand, predict, and control, what is there to do?

Systems thinking leads to another conclusion, however… as soon as we stop being blinded by the illusion of control. It says that there is plenty to do, of a different sort of “doing.” The future can’t be predicted, but it can be envisioned and brought lovingly into being. Systems can’t be controlled, but they can be designed and redesigned. We can’t surge forward with certainty into a world of no surprises, but we can expect surprises and learn from them and even profit from them. We can’t impose our will on a system. We can listen to what the system tells us, and discover how its properties and our values can work together to bring forth something much better than could ever be produced by our will alone.

In this edition, I share excerpts from the fifteen systems wisdoms she lists. I’ve also added my take on implications to leadership, along with links to related pieces. In a future edition, I’ll share the personal and career implications.

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