Faith And The City
Leadership Institute

Introduction to Systems Thinking:
Applications for the Non-profit,
Education and Public Sectors

Lead Trainer
Drew Jones
Sustainability Institute

April 6-7, 2006
Thursday - Friday
9am - 5pm

Logan Room
Woodruff Center for Volunteer Services
100 Edgewood Avenue NE
Atlanta, Georgia 30303

Registration
$595 per person
$895 for two persons from the same organization
(All materials are include)
Limited scholarships are available

Register early. Class size will be limited
to maximize opportunities for coaching and interaction.

The Sustainability Institute and the Faith And The City Leadership Institute are pleased to offer a 2-day training session introducing the tools and use of systems thinking in the non-profit, education, public and service sectors. The for-profit business sector has long understood the value of systems thinking to “bottom line” strategies. Here is an opportunity for organizations which serve the common good to explore systems approaches to the bottom lines we serve—social sustainability or what we might call “wellth.”

BIG STATEMENT:
SYSTEMS THINKING IS THE WAY TO BETTER STRATEGIES FOR MAKING THE DIFFERENCE IN OUR WORLD WE WANT MOST TO MAKE.
(IF NOT "THE” WAY, SURELY A VERY
IMPORTANT ONE.)

Why Systems?

The persistent challenges that show up most in our communities—chronic disease, environmental degradation, racism, traffic, poverty, the growing gap between haves and have-nots—often share common characteristics and related causes. They defy quick fixes, they build and dissipate slowly over time, they are rarely “owned” by any organization but affect all, and their components are tightly coupled. These challenges are “systems problems.” Capacities for exploring systems approaches to overcoming them could lead to breakthroughs and different outcomes.

Systems approaches to desired organizational outcomes have become highly valued in for-profit enterprises. The business world has discovered that systems thinking, when coupled with practices of visioning and reflective conversation, can boost the effectiveness of individuals and teams. These are advantages for the not-for-profit sector, as well. With budget slashing and scarcity of resources a constant challenge, it might be argued that the service sector has the greater need. Increasingly, leaders of “social sustainability” in this country and around the world find that the principles and practices of systems thinking make them better able to meet the challenges they face.

“Systems thinking” was invented in the 1950s at MIT. Systems thinking uses diagramming and simulation modeling to help groups of people improve their understanding of how to improve the way we do things in a range of social/physical systems. Our world is organized in systems—cities and metro areas; health care and education; social service and community development agencies; faith communities; commerce and industry; ecosystems—and all are mutually dependent upon and influenced by the other. This is the reality of all living organisms.

Who Should Attend?

People and organizations including those who:

• Want to improve their effectiveness with a new tool or perspective;
• Have read about the field but want to go a step deeper;
• Have used or plan to use system dynamics in a longer term project but wish to learn more about the foundations and tools of the field; or
• Are feeling stuck or overwhelmed with a challenge they face and want to approach it from fresh perspective.

What to Expect?

A highly interactive training that focuses on:

• Motivation for systems approach
• Principles and strategies of systems thinking
• Tools: Causal Mapping, Behavior-Over-Time Graphing, and Archetypes
• Increase capacity to identify intervention where small action yields large results
• Application of systems approaches in the public sector to impact bottom lines

The 2-day training will utilize written exercises, lecture, physical initiatives, and small group work to introduce the principles and techniques of systems thinking. Content topics will be diverse but will all address issues facing society, issues such as urban growth, public health, air quality, poverty, strengthening communities, and public decision-making.

While this training is designed for non-profits, education, public and service sector agencies, others will find the introduction valuable.

This training is an introduction; while the field includes immediately “actionable” tips and methods, effective use of systems thinking requires more than two days of training and then practice, practice, practice. Expect this training to be a part of a journey, not a destination.

Sustainability Institute and Faith and the City are working together to share an introduction to systems thinking with leaders in the Atlanta area and beyond who are addressing any issue facing the well being of today’s and future generations.

About
Drew Jones, Lead Trainer
Sustainability Institute

Drew Jones of Sustainability Institute has trained a wide range of leaders in systems thinking and simulation modeling. He has run workshops for dozens of non-profit organizations, taught students at M.I.T., and co-designed a course for business consultants at Arthur Andersen. He was lead trainer for Visteon Corporation’s (an outgrowth of Ford) systems thinking and modeling course for two years and co-developed LEAD International’s systems thinking course, which is now being taught in 20 developing countries. Other training clients include the World Bank/I.F.C., The Foundation Incubator, and the Red Cross. He lectures on system dynamics at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, Duke University, and UNC-Chapel Hill.

Drew studied system dynamics simulation modeling, causal mapping, and facilitation through an undergraduate degree at Dartmouth (where Donella Meadows was his mentor) and a master’s degree at MIT (where he studied and did research under Professors John Sterman and Peter Senge). Many of the examples from the Sustainability Institute workshops he leads grow out of the organization’s research and consulting work in forestry, community development, manufacturing, urban growth, global climate change, public health, and other public interest areas.