Discover what it takes to become a Systemic Leader with our comprehensive programme:

• Grasp the essentials of Critical Systems Thinking and the benefits of the EPIC framework

• Learn to navigate complexity using diverse Systemic Perspectives

• Explore various Systems Methodologies and their unique strengths

• Master the use of Critical Systems Practice and the EPIC framework to design and implement effective interventions in complex scenarios

• Develop proficiency in evaluating interventions from multiple perspectives

Additional notes:

• Active participation is encouraged throughout the course to maximise learning outcomes.

• No pre-reading is required. All participants will receive a copy of Professor Jackson’s book, Critical Systems Thinking: A Practitioner’s Guide (Wiley, 2024), to reinforce their learning.

SESSION 1 - MAXIMISING THE POTENTIAL OF SYSTEMS THINKING

“There is always a well-known solution to every human problem – neat, plausible, and wrong”

• From Systems Thinking to Systems Practice

• From Deming to Senge’s ‘Fifth Discipline’ to Critical Systems Thinking and Practice

• Cynefin and the strengths and weaknesses of different systems approaches

• Case studies, past and present

SESSION 2 - SEEING THINGS DIFFERENTLY

“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still

retain the ability to function”

• Introduction to five powerful Systemic Perspectives

• The nature of the mechanical, interrelationships, organismic, purposeful and societal/environmental lenses

• Responding to Covid-19 in the UK – learning from the Systemic Perspectives

• Practice using the five lenses on Singaporean issues

SESSION 3 - DOING THINGS DIFFERENTLY

“A diversity of [systems] approaches may herald, not crisis, but increased competence and effectiveness in a variety

of different problem contexts”

• The range of systems approaches

• Promoting efficacy and efficiency

• Avoiding unintended consequences and finding leverage points for change

• Promoting adaptability, resilience and anti-fragility

• Promoting mutual understanding while avoiding groupthink

• Grasping societal and environmental challenges

• Using systems approaches in combination – Critical Systems Practice and the EPIC framework (examples from the

UK Civil Service, Health, Business, etc.)

SESSION 4 - TOWARDS SYSTEMIC LEADERSHIP

“A leader is best when people barely know [they] exist, when [their] work is done, [their] aim fulfilled, they will say:

we did it ourselves”

• The EPIC (Explore, Produce, Intervene, Check) Framework

• The attributes of Systemic Leadership

• Embracing a flexible mindset based on the five Systemic Perspectives

• Understanding the value of different systems approaches

• Practice in matching appropriate systems approaches to problem situations

• Overcoming the barriers to successful Systemic Leadership