Watch your language!

Happy 5^th July!

Today is a special day for me.

First, it is my home country’s (Algeria) National Day, and second, it is also my birthday, and I am looking forward to a date with my husband.

But before I do so, I wanted to draw your attention to the language you use.

If you think of it, language is both a reflection of, and an influence on how we think, perceive, and interact with the world around us. It serves as a lens through which we interpret our experiences and communicate with others.

If you pay attention to your language, you will find signs of systemic thinking in your everyday life. Here are two thought experiments you can try:

1. Change of meaning

Consider the words below:

• Food

• Waste

• Healthcare

• Education

Note down what each word means. Then try to picture it in your mind and write down (or sketch even) what the picture represents.

Make sure you’ve done this before you move to the next step.

Now add the word ‘system’ after each of the words:

• Food system

• Waste system

• Healthcare system

• Education system

Does the meaning change? Does the image you have in your mind change?

When people take this exercise, they often find that adding the term "system" to a word generally broadens its meaning, and shifts their thinking from individual or isolated elements to an organised set working collectively.

As you go about your day, try adding the word ‘system’ to the things you see around you. Does everything fit into a system? Can you think of something that works completely in isolation and does not need to interact with anything (or anyone) else to fulfil its function?

2. Everyday expressions

Have you ever used or heard any of the expressions below?

• We are stuck in a vicious circle

• It’s a catch-22 situation

• It has snowballed into a big problem

• The more I do X, the more Y happens

• It’s been a rollercoaster ride

• Sales have hit a plateau

• The system is broken

• You can’t buck the system

• The flywheel effect

These are all manifestations of our awareness of systemic factors at play. We use them all the time, sometimes without giving them much thought.

Here’s your challenge: pay attention to these expressions and similar ones. Have a think about what they mean.

For example:

The vicious circle: You feel tired, so you drink coffee, which disturbs your sleep so you get even more tired and you need that coffee even more. With time, it becomes an addiction, you cannot function properly without that morning coffee!

What is happening is that you are using coffee as a quick fix to your tiredness problem, and it actually is making it worse in the long run.

Think about your own vicious circle, what is actually happening?

A roller-coaster ride is something going through cycles: it goes up and down and then up again, and so on. It can also be a problem or situation that goes away for a bit and then comes back again. Can you think of any examples? Why is that happening?

Which ones of the expressions above (or others) do you find yourself using a lot of the time?

A quick round up of July events at IFSI.

All IFSI events are informal, experimental, and intend to bring out some form of collective intelligence or sense-making.

Systems Thinkers Meet Up: 11 & 25 July 13.30-14.30 BST

The Systems Thinkers Meet Up brings together systems thinkers and systems thinking enthusiasts to exchange ideas, experience and learn from one another.

It is completely free, and open to anyone who wants to join. The only rules are to come with an open mind, to show respect and to be willing to contribute some of your knowledge to the group.

Click here to join the group. You will receive a calendar invitation for all the sessions and you can decide when to join.

Story Circle: 25 July 2024, 17:00 -18:00 BST

Story Circle is a small group of individuals sharing stories - from their own experience or imagination - around a common theme.

This simple activity supports learning, listening, empathy and connection in a friendly and informal setting.

July’s theme is: ‘Food is Health’

Join us on Zoom and tell us a story (or more) related to this theme, and what it triggers in your mind.

Click here to register.

The Collaboratory: Weekly, starting week of 10 July (time tbc)

A collaboratory is a space for joint exploration and experimentation around a certain theme, involving participants from multiple disciplines who may not usually work together. The aim is to leverage differences in knowledge, expertise and skills to develop a deeper and better understanding of the theme.

The theme we are currently exploring is Health in 2024 and beyond.

If you are interested in taking part, or would like support to run a collaboratory around your particular theme of interest, please get in touch: [email protected]

One last thing…

If you have read all the way to here, you are truly special! Thank you!

Until next month…All the good things!

Houda