👑My Conference Agenda

Background

This was another experiment, when the conference agenda arrived it was 99 pages long! On the correct proposition that my interests in Systems Thinking were described by the ideas in V2-Combined I used the system to make suggestions - (this is the penultimate answer). Finally I used the system to suggest questions for the speakers - based on the ideas in V2 (this is the last answer).

Contents

Themes by Ideas Themes by Ideas Talks relating to James Wilk Hylton Boothroyd of Tim Allen Talks relating to Warren Weaver Talks relating to Dee Hock Cluster the Themes of all the Papers Personal Conference Agenda based on My Interests Draft a List of Questions for the Keynotes

Themes by Ideas

Can you cluster the themes of the papers and presentations in stsp based on the cluster of ideas and concepts in v2-combined

STPrism said

Based on the systemic frameworks and cognitive heuristics described in V2-Combined, the papers and presentations from the Systems Thinking Systems Practice (STSP) conference can be clustered into the following five thematic areas:

1. Methodological Pluralism and Critical Inquiry

This cluster aligns with Michael Jackson’s “Creative Holism” and the commitment to using a diverse toolkit of systems methodologies to address different dimensions of complexity. It also draws on Peter Checkland’s focus on structured learning in “messy” human situations.

• V2 Concepts: Methodological Pluralism (SOSM), EPIC framework, Boundary Critique, and the “Explore” phase of inquiry.

• STSP Presentations:

  • The theory and practice of the Explore stage of the EPIC multimethodology (Chris Skelly and Mike Jackson).

  • An Introduction to Multimethodologies and the eCanvas (Matt Lloyd).

  • Using Multi-Method Systems Thinking to Navigate Software Redevelopment (Alina Zoladek-Lemanczyk).

  • Reflections on Using Soft Systems Methodology for Disability Inclusion (Kalyani Gupta).

2. Viability, Structural Governance, and Cybernetics

This cluster is rooted in Stafford Beer’s Viable System Model (VSM) and Patrick Hoverstadt’s focus on organizational survival through “variety engineering” and fractal structure.

• V2 Concepts: Requisite Variety, Recursion, System 1–5 functions, and POSIWID (“The Purpose Of a System Is What It Does”).

• STSP Presentations:

  • Advanced Viable System Model practice and Designing governance using systems approaches (Patrick Hoverstadt).

  • Stafford Beer: a truly holistic man and scientist (Angela Espinosa).

  • Internalized Liabilities of Organisations (assessing organizational debt via VSM).

  • Systemic leadership for viability (Gavin Roberts).

3. Adaptive Stewardship and Sense-making

This cluster reflects Dave Snowden’s Cynefin framework and Fred Emery’s Open Systems Theory, focusing on navigating “turbulent” environments where linear cause-and-effect cannot be predicted.

• V2 Concepts: Anthro-complexity, Active Adaptation, Safe-to-Fail Probes, and the distinction between Complicated (ordered) and Complex (emergent) domains.

• STSP Presentations:

  • Discover the Cynefin Framework with us (Biagio Gugliotta).

  • Viability in a changing landscape: How small organisations thrive in shifting systems (Carla Owen).

  • From Pilots to Place: How Sport England’s Systems Approach Is Transforming Physical Activity.

  • A Framework for Large-Scale, Rapid Participatory Sensemaking (David Snowden).

4. Human Relationality, Perspectives, and Meaning

This cluster centers on the “Interior” of systems, drawing from Geoffrey Vickers’ Appreciative Systems, George Lakoff’s Embodied Cognition, and Gregory Bateson’s “Pattern Which Connects”.

• V2 Concepts: Appreciative Settings (Reality/Value/Instrumental Judgments), Cognitive Framing, Relational Infrastructure, and Languaging/Emotioning.

• STSP Presentations:

  • Warm Data Lab - exploring complexity without trying to reduce it (Simon Fieldhouse).

  • Systems Practice is a Humanism (Benjamin Taylor).

  • How Does a System Feel? Embodied Stakeholder Mapping (Liene Kupča).

  • Decolonising PG sustainability teaching through Indigenous worldviews (Jonathan Coope).

5. Systemic Design and Generative Unfolding

This cluster applies the principles of Harold Nelson’s “The Design Way” and Christopher Alexander’s “Wholeness,” focusing on the intentional creation of the “Ultimate Particular” in a specific context.

• V2 Concepts: Desiderata (designing for what is desired), Structure-Preserving Transformations, Service Relationships, and the “Ultimate Particular”.

• STSP Presentations:

  • A Pedagogy for Systemic Design (Cecilia Landa-Avila).

  • Systemic Design at SBB (Swiss Federal Railways).

  • Implementing Degrowth through Urban Third Places (Boglárka Jakabfi-Kovács).

  • BUMPONOMICS: Using Idealized Design to Re-Imagine a New Economics System.

Themes by Ideas - full list

can you extend this to include all the papers in stsp and concepts in v2

STPrism said

This mapping clusters the presentations and papers from the Systems Thinking Systems Practice (STSP) conference according to the core frameworks and cognitive heuristics detailed in V2-Combined.

1. Critical Systems Practice and Multimethodology

This cluster centers on the EPIC framework (Explore, Produce, Intervene, Check) and the System of Systems Methodologies (SOSM) described by Michael Jackson. It addresses the need to navigate “messes” by selecting the right tools for technical, cultural, or power-based complexity.

• V2 Concepts: EPIC Framework, SOSM, Critical Systems Thinking (CST), Complementarism.

• STSP Papers & Presentations:

  • EPIC in Practice: The theory and practice of the Explore stage of the EPIC multimethodology (Chris Skelly & Mike Jackson); Introducing the eCanvas (Matt Lloyd).

  • Multimethodological Applications: Using Multi-Method Systems Thinking to Navigate Software Redevelopment Complexity (Alina Zoladek-Lemanczyk); Bridging Systems Theory and Practice in Healthcare (Tegid Rhys Williams); A work in progress applying mixed systems thinking methods (Jenny Cooley).

  • Professional Capabilities: Exploring Facilitation and Leadership Styles (G. Bell et al.); Methods for Systems Thinking workbook (Christian Baron).

2. Organizational Viability and Management Cybernetics

Rooted in Stafford Beer’s Viable System Model (VSM) and Patrick Hoverstadt’s focus on structural fitness, this cluster focuses on how organizations achieve “stability in the face of complexity” through variety engineering and fractal design.

• V2 Concepts: VSM (Systems 1–5), Requisite Variety (Ashby’s Law), Recursion, POSIWID (“The Purpose Of a System Is What It Does”).

• STSP Papers & Presentations:

  • Advanced VSM Practice: Advanced Viable System Model practice (Patrick Hoverstadt); Designing governance using systems approaches (Patrick Hoverstadt).

  • Viability Diagnoses: Internalized Liabilities of Organisations (Kai-Uwe Radde); Systemic leadership for viability (Gavin Roberts); Case study: Shepton Mallet Community Bookshop (Lesley Rowan).

  • Oncology & Healthcare: Applying systems sciences to address patient retention challenges (Kris Dzienisiuk).

3. Soft Systems, Meaning, and Appreciative Inquiry

This cluster follows Peter Checkland’s Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) and Geoffrey Vickers’ Appreciative Systems. It treats systems as mental constructs used to structure debates in human situations where goals are contested.

• V2 Concepts: Human Activity Systems, CATWOE, Weltanschauung, Reality/Value/Instrumental Judgments, LUMAS.

• STSP Papers & Presentations:

  • SSM in Action: Applying Systems Thinking to drive transformation in Natural England (David Lowe); Reflections on Using Soft Systems Methodology for Disability Inclusion (Kalyani Gupta).

  • Apprenticeship & Learning: A learning system approach to developing support for Systems Thinking Practitioner students (Lesley Rowan); My systems thinking practitioner apprenticeship journey (Claire Mason).

  • Human Values: Systems practice is a humanism (Benjamin Taylor); From Fragmented Perception to Wholeness (Devesh Gupta).

4. Complexity, Sensemaking, and Anthro-complexity

Drawing on Dave Snowden’s Cynefin framework and Alicia Juarrero’s theory of constraints, this cluster explores the “dispositional” nature of complex adaptive systems where cause and effect are only visible in retrospect.

• V2 Concepts: Cynefin (Simple, Complicated, Complex, Chaotic), Safe-to-Fail Probes, Retrospective Coherence, Constraints vs. Controls.

• STSP Papers & Presentations:

  • Snowden/Cynefin: A Framework for Large-Scale, Rapid Participatory Sensemaking (David Snowden); Discover the Cynefin Framework with us (Biagio Gugliotta).

  • Dynamic Environments: Understanding impact of intermediaries within a complex adaptive system (Gary Kass & Esmee Wilcox); Viability in a changing landscape (Carla Owen).

  • Intervention Tools: BUMPS - A System for Systems Thinking (Ken Carroll); Symptom Structure Field Card (Keith Driver).

5. System Dynamics, Leverage Points, and Constraints

Focused on the “plumbing” of systems described by Barry Richmond and Donella Meadows, this cluster uses feedback loops and stock-flow models to identify high-leverage intervention points.

• V2 Concepts: Reinforcing/Balancing Loops, Stocks/Flows, Leverage Points, The 12 Places to Intervene, Current Reality Tree.

• STSP Papers & Presentations:

  • Leverage & Intervention: How we use systems thinking to help decolonise PG sustainability teaching (Jonathan Coope); Applying Systems Thinking to drive transformation in Natural England.

  • Modeling Scenarios: The Gender Pay Gap in the UK: Using a Systems Dynamics Approach (Alfred Akakpo); Alcohol Relapse and Young Adult Mental Health (Xavier Matieni).

  • Productivity & Flow: Productivity and growth: a systems prescription (John Seddon); Comprehensive analysis of construction productivity (Ghassan Alfarsi).

6. Systemic Design and Generative Wholeness

This cluster applies Harold Nelson’s “Design Way” and Christopher Alexander’s “Wholeness”, moving from “problem-solving” to “generative unfolding” of the ultimate particular.

• V2 Concepts: Desiderata, Service Relationship, Ultimate Particular, Unfolding, Centers, Structure-Preserving Transformations.

• STSP Papers & Presentations:

  • Designerly Approaches: From Maps to Action: A Pedagogy for Systemic Design (Cecilia Landa-Avila); Systemic Design at SBB (Swiss Federal Railways) (Jasmin Röllin & Lorenz Willener).

  • Urban & Ecosystem Design: Implementing Degrowth through Urban Third Places (Boglárka Jakabfi-Kovács); Systems Thinking for Sustainable Transitions in Marine Management (Gemma Smith).

  • Relational Space: Warm Data Lab (Simon Fieldhouse).

7. Ethics, Power, and Boundary Critique

This cluster focuses on the Critical Systems Heuristics (CSH) of Werner Ulrich and the “Sweeping In” process of C. West Churchman. It emphasizes the moral responsibility of drawing boundaries.

• V2 Concepts: Boundary Critique (12 Questions), Is vs. Ought, Sources of Motivation/Control/Knowledge/Legitimation.

• STSP Papers & Presentations:

  • CSH in Practice: Legitimacy: Boundary Judgements and Public Decision-Making in the UK (Ellen Lewis et al.); Training Session: Critical Systems Heuristics (Carolina Cullington).

  • Emancipatory Systems: Trans inclusion in sport from a critical systems lens (El Wilkinson-Cunningham); Why we do what we do (Martin Reynolds).

  • Governance & Ethics: Systems Thinking in Practice in a Refugee Charity (Meriel Davies).

Talks relating to James Wilk Hylton Boothroyd or Tim Allen

Do any of the papers in stsp touch on the concepts of james wilk or hylton boothroyd or tim allen

STPrism said

Based on the provided documents, here is how the concepts of James Wilk, Hylton Boothroyd, and Tim Allen relate to the Systems Thinking Systems Practice (STSP) conference:

1. James Wilk (Metamorphology and Minimalist Intervention)

While James Wilk is not listed as a primary presenter, several sessions in the STSP programme align closely with his concepts of Minimalist Intervention (MI) and Clinical Epistemology described in V2-Combined:

• Benjamin Taylor’s Training Session: This session on “Systemic consulting and facilitation” explicitly mentions moving towards “authentic—even flawless—systems interventions” and “getting down and dirty in the muddy lowlands”. These phrases reflect Wilk’s rejection of abstract modelling in favor of working “directly with pieces of the real world”.

• The Miracle Question: Wilk’s “Phase 2” of investigation uses the “Miracle Question” (“If a miracle happened tonight… how would you know?”). This specific technique is explicitly listed in the EPIC and Lifecycle framework as a way to formulate interventions.

• Negative Explanation: Wilk’s concept of explaining stability by specifyng constraints (“Why this rather than that?”) is a core heuristic for filtering complexity. The STSP programme includes a training session on Systems Laws by Gavin Roberts that focuses on “deciphering” these foundational tenets to “challenge your thinking and check your biases”.

2. Hylton Boothroyd (Articulate Intervention)

Hylton Boothroyd is a central figure in the V2-Combined collection, particularly regarding Articulate Intervention. His influence is evident in the conference’s focus on the learning paradigm:

• Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) Training: Simon MacCormac facilitates a session comparing the methodologies of Peter Checkland and Brian Wilson. In V2-Combined, Boothroyd is grouped with Checkland as a pioneer of “Soft” Systems Thinking, which treats systems as “organized enclaves in a relatively underorganized environment”.

• The Learning Paradigm: Boothroyd’s work emphasizes shifting from “optimization” to “learning” in human situations. This theme is the “key focus” of the entire STSP conference, which aims to support “learning of concepts, tools, and techniques to… understand complex problems”.

3. Tim Allen (Hierarchy Theory)

The concepts of Tim Allen (specifically T.F.H. Allen’s Hierarchy Theory) are foundational to the “systemic perspectives” used throughout the conference:

• Multiple Levels of Recursion: Several papers, such as those by Christian Heathcote-Elliott and Lesley Rowan, apply the Viable System Model (VSM) to explore “levels of recursion”. This aligns with Allen’s focus on how observation depends on the “scope and resolution” of the observer.

• Systemic Perspectives: Mike Jackson introduces the EPIC framework, which uses five systemic perspectives (mechanical, interrelationship, purposeful, organismic, and societal) to interrogate complex situations. This “middle-out” approach to choosing the hierarchical level where a function is observable is a hallmark of Allen’s theory.

• Middle-Out Selection: Presentations like those by Tegid Rhys Williams on healthcare improvement utilize these hierarchical perspectives to “surface service fragmentation” across multiple levels of the NHS.

Talks relating to Warren Weaver

Do any of the papers in stsp touch on the concepts of warren weaver

STPrism said

Several papers and presentations in the Systems Thinking Systems Practice (STSP) conference touch on the concepts of Warren Weaver, particularly his distinction between simplicity, disorganized complexity, and organized complexity.

Based on the frameworks in V2-Combined, here is how Weaver’s concepts are represented in the STSP programme:

1. Organized Complexity and the “Middle Numbers”

Weaver’s most influential concept is “Organized Complexity”—the “Goldilocks Zone” where systems have too many parts for simple mechanics but too much structure for statistical averages.

• Matt Lloyd’s “Introducing the eCanvas” and “An Introduction to Multimethodologies”: As noted in the V2-Combined section for “The Other Group” (TOG), their foundational framework is derived from Weaver’s 1948 model. Their sessions aim to provide a “common language and structure” for navigating this specific zone of complexity.

• Mike Jackson and Chris Skelly’s “Theory and practice of the Explore stage”: This session on the EPIC multimethodology is rooted in Critical Systems Thinking (CST), which uses the “hierarchy of complexity” (originally synthesized from Boulding and Weaver) to determine which systemic perspective—mechanical, organismic, or societal—is appropriate for the level of organized complexity encountered.

2. The Distinction Between Ordered and Complex Systems

Weaver distinguished between “Simplicity” (linear, Newtonian) and “Organized Complexity” (non-linear, organic).

• David Snowden’s “Framework for Large-Scale, Rapid Participatory Sensemaking”: Snowden’s work on Anthro-complexity is described in V2 as a “seismic shift” that evolves Weaver’s distinctions into the Cynefin domains of Ordered (Simple/Complicated) versus Complex.

• Biagio Gugliotta’s “Discover the Cynefin Framework”: This training session explicitly focuses on the phenomenological distinction between systems where cause-and-effect can be predicted (Weaver’s “Simplicity”) and those where patterns are emergent (Weaver’s “Organized Complexity”).

3. Variety Engineering as the Answer to Complexity

While Weaver identified the problem of Organized Complexity, cyberneticians like Ross Ashby and Stafford Beer provided the structural solution through “Variety Engineering”.

• Patrick Hoverstadt’s “Advanced Viable System Model practice”: VSM is the primary tool for managing the “variety” (Weaver’s complexity) of an organization to ensure it matches its environment.

• Gavin Roberts’ “Systemic leadership for viability”: This presentation addresses how leaders must increase their own “requisite variety” to handle the organized complexity of modern enterprise structures.

4. Systemic Design and “Wholeness”

Weaver argued that organized complexity requires looking at the “organic whole”.

• Cecilia Landa-Avila’s “A Pedagogy for Systemic Design”: This paper applies the concepts of Harold Nelson, whose “Design Way” (as detailed in V2) is a proactive response to the “wicked” organized complexity Weaver first described, moving from “problem solving” to “generative unfolding” of the whole.

Talks relating to Dee Hock

Do any of the papers in stsp touch on the concepts of Dee Hock

STPrism said

Based on the provided documents, while Dee Hock is not mentioned by name in the STSP Delegate Programme, his foundational concept of Chaordic Systems is a core theoretical pillar discussed in V2-Combined and is reflected in the conference’s focus on self-organization and adaptive governance.

1. Chaordic Concepts in V2-Combined

In V2-Combined, Dee Hock’s work is situated within the “Complexity” and “Anthro-complexity” frameworks. Hock’s definition of a “chaordic” system—one that is simultaneously chaotic and ordered, characterized by decentralized, self-organizing behavior—aligns with several systems theorists featured in the STSP programme:

• The Law of Requisite Variety: Hock’s belief that systems must push power to the periphery to handle complexity is a direct application of Ross Ashby’s Law of Requisite Variety, which is a recurring theme in STSP sessions by Patrick Hoverstadt and Gavin Roberts.

• Self-Managing Enterprises: Hock’s practical application of these ideas at VISA is echoed in the “Self-Managing Enterprise” concepts discussed in Kim Warren’s keynote.

2. Thematic Links in STSP Presentations

Several STSP papers explore the “chaordic” tension between central control and emergent order that Hock championed:

• Systems Practice for Cybersecurity: Laksh Raghavan cites the need for keeping organizations “alive and thriving over long periods of time in an uncertain and ever-changing environment”. This focus on viability over rigid control is a hallmark of chaordic design.

• Clinic of Activity: Timothée Landa applies Complex Adaptive System (CAS) principles to organizational resilience, focusing on self-organization and “cross-level feedback loops” to coordinate action without top-down hierarchy.

• Sustainable Self-Governance: Angela Espinosa’s keynote on Stafford Beer and the Viable System Model (VSM) focuses on “managing complexity in networked, self-regulated organisations”. Hock’s chaordic model is often viewed as a practical, business-focused implementation of these same cybernetic principles.

• Relational Public Policy: Joan O’Donnel discusses “releasing power from the centre” and “self-organising practices,” which directly mirrors Hock’s transition from industrial-age command-and-control to the chaordic age of distributed authority.

Cluster the Themes of all the Papers

Provide an exhaustive, multi-part guide exceeding 2,000 words can you cluster the themes of the papers and presentations in stsp based on the cluster of ideas and concepts in v2-combined

STPrism said

This comprehensive guide provides a thematic clustering of the papers and presentations from the Systems Thinking Systems Practice (STSP) conference through the lens of the systemic frameworks, cognitive heuristics, and philosophical traditions detailed in V2-Combined.

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Part 1: Organizational Cybernetics and the Viable System Model (VSM)

This cluster centers on the concepts of Stafford Beer, Angela Espinosa, and Patrick Hoverstadt. It focuses on organizational “stability in the face of complexity” through variety engineering, recursion, and the five subsystems required for autonomy.

Core V2 Concepts:

• Requisite Variety (Ashby’s Law): The principle that internal management variety must match environmental variety for a system to remain viable.

• Recursion: The fractal nature of systems, where a viable system is composed of viable systems and is itself part of a larger viable system.

• Subsystems 1–5: System 1 (Operations), System 2 (Coordination), System 3 (Control), System 4 (Intelligence/Environment monitoring), and System 5 (Policy/Identity).

• POSIWID: “The Purpose Of a System Is What It Does,” shifting focus from stated intent to actual behavior.

STSP Presentations Mapping:

• Stafford Beer’s Legacy: Angela Espinosa’s keynote, Stafford Beer: a truly holistic man and scientist, explores Beer’s contributions to management and spirituality.

• Advanced Practice: Patrick Hoverstadt’s training session, Advanced Viable System Model practice, focuses on variety balances and diagnosing large-scale organizational issues.

• Governance Design: Hoverstadt’s second session, Designing governance using systems approaches, applies VSM structural aspects (3,4,5 homeostat) to UK government agencies.

• Viability & Leadership: Gavin Roberts’ session, Systemic leadership for viability, uses VSM as a “skeleton” for pragmatic leadership behavior.

• Organizational Debt: Kai-Uwe Radde’s paper, Internalized Liabilities of Organisations, utilizes VSM to assess “Organizational Debt”—the changes needed to achieve a healthy state.

• Healthcare Applications: Tegid Rhys Williams and Krzysztof Dzienisiuk apply VSM to NHS service fragmentation and patient retention in clinical trials.

• Local Community: Lesley Rowan’s case study demonstrates how 53 minutes of VSM modeling saved a community bookshop by clarifying roles and coordination.

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Part 2: Critical Systems Practice (CSP) and Methodological Pluralism

This cluster is rooted in Michael Jackson’s philosophy of “Creative Holism,” which rejects methodological isolationism and argues that different tools must be used in a theoretically informed partnership to address technical, practical, and emancipatory interests.

Core V2 Concepts:

• The EPIC Framework: A recursive cycle of inquiry involving Explore (understanding complexity), Produce (designing intervention strategy), Intervene (flexible action), and Check (evaluating progress).

• System of Systems Methodologies (SOSM): A grid categorizing methodologies based on system complexity (Simple/Complex) and participant relationships (Unitary/Pluralist/Coercive).

• Complementarism: The theoretically grounded use of multiple systems approaches to tackle diverse facets of a problem.

STSP Presentations Mapping:

• EPIC Theory & Practice: Mike Jackson and Chris Skelly’s paper, The theory and practice of the Explore stage of the EPIC multimethodology, details the use of five systemic perspectives (Mechanical, Organismic, etc.).

• Methodological Interrogation: Simon MacCormac and Mike Jackson’s joint presentation, EPIC and Lifecycle Approaches, addresses realizing this ideal-type framework in messy real-world practice.

• Visual Documentation: Matt Lloyd’s Introducing the eCanvas provides a business-card-sized tool for documenting EPIC-based inquiries and selecting appropriate methodologies.

• Multi-Method Navigation: Alina Zoladek-Lemanczyk’s paper on the PICARD project illustrates the integration of SSM, VSM, and CSH to manage software redevelopment complexity.

• Strategic Design: Andrew Firth and Jason Poole propose a “Four Frames” approach as a pragmatic synthesis of theory and practice for operational planning.

• Professional Capabilities: Christian Baron’s book launch, Methods for Systems Thinking, offers 65+ practical approaches grouped via a “5M” structure to make pluralism accessible.

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Part 3: Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) and Appreciative Systems

This cluster draws from Peter Checkland, Geoffrey Vickers, and Brian Wilson. It treats “systems” not as objective realities, but as intellectual constructs used to structure learning in human situations where goals are contested.

Core V2 Concepts:

• The Appreciative System: The continuous interaction of reality judgments (what is), value judgments (what ought to be), and instrumental judgments (what to do).

• CATWOE: A mnemonic (Customers, Actors, Transformation, Weltanschauung, Owner, Environment) to define a purposeful “Human Activity System”.

• Weltanschauung: The worldview or underlying belief that makes a specific perspective meaningful to an observer.

• Rich Pictures: Visual, unstructured representations of “messy” situations to capture emotional and structural complexity.

STSP Presentations Mapping:

• SSM Training: Simon MacCormac facilitates a session comparing the methodologies of Checkland and Wilson, focusing on “learning enquiry” vs. analytical approaches.

• Transforming Governance: David Lowe’s case study on Natural England describes using SSM to clarify organizational purpose and service definitions.

• Youth Participation: Claire Tanton shares her experience using SSM and rich pictures to help young people co-create interventions in local authority governance.

• Inclusion Research: Kalyani Gupta and Christina Robinson present posters on using SSM to improve disability inclusion in research and cancer services.

• Visual Exploration: Rachel Bennett and Mary McKee’s workshop, Seeing the system, provides a “taster” of DfT masterclasses using rich pictures and the “pig model” for stakeholder mapping.

• Academic Mentoring: Lesley Rowan applies the LUMAS (Learning for a User by a Methodology-informed Approach to a Situation) model to support systems thinking practitioner students.

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Part 4: Complexity Science, Sense-making, and Anthro-complexity

This cluster is defined by Dave Snowden and Alicia Juarrero. It emphasizes the dispositional nature of complex systems—where outcomes are only visible in retrospect—and focuses on managing constraints rather than forcing top-down order.

Core V2 Concepts:

• The Cynefin Framework: A sense-making tool distinguishing between Ordered (Clear/Complicated), Complex (emergent patterns), and Chaotic domains.

• Constraints vs. Controls: Constraints (enabling or governing) shape the possibility space; they are the “simple rules” that allow order to emerge bottom-up.

• Safe-to-Fail Probes: Small-scale experiments used to sense the disposition of a complex system before taking large-scale action.

• Bifurcation: A critical threshold where a random fluctuation can cause a sudden, irreversible phase transition into a new state.

STSP Presentations Mapping:

• Sense-making at Scale: Dave Snowden’s paper, A Framework for Large-Scale, Rapid Participatory Sensemaking, uses distributed “swarm intelligence” to counter manipulated digital discourse.

• Introductory Complexity: Biagio Gugliotta’s workshop, Frustrated by Complexity? Discover the Cynefin Framework, provides foundational applications for decision-making in the MoD.

• Organizational Resilience: Timothée Landa applies CAS principles (self-organization, emergent coordination) to the “Clinic of Activity” in French childcare institutions.

• Intermediary Impact: Gary Kass and Esmee Wilcox explore the messy ecosystems of intermediary organizations, highlighting the fallacy of predictable outcomes in such environments.

• Structural Maturity: Keith Driver proposes a model of recurrent structural states and feedback patterns to assess the “fitness” of AI-enabled organizations.

• Chaotic Transformations: Miguel Pantaleon shares how frameworks “crumbled under pressure” during Spain’s largest single-asset hotel transaction.

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Part 5: Systemic Design and Generative Unfolding

This cluster applies the concepts of Harold Nelson and Christopher Alexander. It moves from reactive problem-solving toward the proactive creation of the “Ultimate Particular” through generative unfolding.

Core V2 Concepts:

• Desiderata: The focus on what is desired rather than merely solving a problem.

• The Ultimate Particular: The unique, context-specific composition created by design (as opposed to science’s search for universal truths).

• Wholeness and Centers: Space is not a vacuum but a structural whole composed of “centers” that strengthen one another.

• Structure-Preserving Transformations: Changes that maintain and enhance the existing life or order of a site.

STSP Presentations Mapping:

• SD Pedagogy: Cecilia Landa-Avila’s presentation, A Pedagogy for Systemic Design, shares methods (gigamaps, loop maps) for building actionable portfolios of systemic interventions.

• Urban Degrowth: Boglárka Jakabfi-Kovács applies a systems-based design strategy to realize “Urban Third Places” in Hungary within a degrowth framework.

• Socio-Technical Solutions: Jasmin Röllin and Lorenz Willener share systemic design work at Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), reframing “human error” as a property of an integrated whole.

• Idealized Design: Ken Carroll’s poster on BUMPONOMICS uses Russell Ackoff’s concept of “idealized design” to re-imagine economics.

• Participatory Transitions: Gemma Smith presents the Simple Social-Ecological Systems Framework for marine management transitions.

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Part 6: System Dynamics and Operational Infrastructure

This cluster focuses on the “physics” of systems described by Barry Richmond and Donella Meadows. It uses feedback loops and stock-flow structures to understand dynamic behavior over time.

Core V2 Concepts:

• System-as-Cause: The belief that a system’s internal structure—its “plumbing” of stocks and flows—is the primary driver of its behavior.

• Stocks and Flows: Stocks represent accumulations (money, people), while flows represent activities (spending, hiring).

• Leverage Points: The 12 places to intervene in a system, from simple parameters to high-leverage paradigm shifts.

• Systems Archetypes: Recurring storylines like “Fixes That Fail” or “Shifting the Burden”.

STSP Presentations Mapping:

• Productivity Improvement: John Seddon’s keynote, Productivity and growth: a systems prescription, argues that improving service design through systemic principles (Vanguard Method) beats traditional command-and-control.

• Gender Pay Gap: Alfred Akakpo uses system dynamics to develop causal loop and stock-flow diagrams to understand entrenched gender norms in the UK.

• Decolonising Education: Jonathan Coope applies Donella Meadows’ “Intervention Points” model to Western sustainability teaching, arguing for the high-leverage power of worldviews.

• Food-Climate Nexus: Lucas Moura demonstrates tools like causal loop diagrams to reveal global asymmetries and shared leverage points in food security.

• Public Sector Reform: John Mortimer explores the success and failure of systemic designs in the UK public sector using action research.

• Health Modeling: Xavier Matieni constructs an integrated map for alcohol relapse, identifying feedback traps like “Shifting the Burden”.

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Part 7: Ethics, Power, and Boundary Critique

This cluster centers on the Critical Systems Heuristics (CSH) of Werner Ulrich and the “Sweeping In” philosophy of C. West Churchman. It treats the drawing of system boundaries as a moral and political act.

Core V2 Concepts:

• Boundary Critique: The process of interrogating what is included (valued/controlled) and what is excluded (marginalized/environment) in a project.

• Is vs. Ought: A dialectic contrasting current reality with a normative ideal.

• Polemical Employment: Empowering the affected but not involved to challenge the expertise of powerful planners.

• The 12 Questions: CSH categories including Sources of Motivation, Control, Knowledge, and Legitimation.

STSP Presentations Mapping:

• Legitimacy Workshop: Ellen Lewis et al. facilitate a participatory session using Ulrich’s 12 questions to examine public decision-making and Brexit reforms.

• CSH Training: Carolina Cullington’s session equips practitioners to use CSH to reveal blind spots and challenge dominant narratives in policy design.

• Refugee Governance: Meriel Davies’ poster describes using multi-methodology to navigate ethics and strategy in a refugee charity.

• Trans Inclusion: El Wilkinson-Cunningham presents a critical systems lens on trans inclusion in sport.

• Pragmatic Pluralism: Juanita Bernal Alvarado’s work in the Global South questions how systems tools need to change when knowledge is extracted rather than co-produced.

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Part 8: Human Relationality, Cognition, and Embodiment

This cluster draws from George Lakoff, Gregory Bateson, and Alan Kay. It shifts focus to the internal mental landscape, embodied experiences, and the “relational infrastructure” of systems.

Core V2 Concepts:

• Embodied Cognition: Concepts and reasoning arise from physical bodily functioning and sensory-motor interactions.

• Conceptual Metaphors: Unconscious cognitive structures (e.g., “Taxation is a Burden”) that shape perception and behavior.

• Information as “Difference”: A difference which makes a difference, often defined negatively by what is prevented or missing.

• Double Description: Combining two or more different viewpoints to create an extra dimension of insight (binocular vision).

STSP Presentations Mapping:

• Warm Data Lab: Simon Fieldhouse facilitates an immersive session focusing on “deeply relational space” to explore complexity without reducing it.

• Systems as Humanism: Benjamin Taylor’s keynote argues that systems practice is a humanist stance, with responsibility as its core measure.

• Embodied Mapping: Liene Kupča’s workshop, How Does a System Feel?, uses bodies in space and LEGO∙ elements to डिजाइन interventions from lived stakeholder experiences.

• Cognitive Shifting: Louise Le Gat explores how leaders need to shift their own “inner system” and “internal software” to meet planetary crises.

• Dialogic Firefighting: Michael Olen uses Bohmian dialogue to surface tacit systems thinking skills in firefighters to address recruitment.

• Gamified Worldviews: Gemma Fraser’s MOO Game uses role-play and gamification to let participants “inhabit” diverse characters within a system.

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Part 9: Measurement, Uncertainty, and Applied Information

This cluster reflects the work of Doug Hubbard, David Spiegelhalter, and Claude Shannon. It focuses on uncertainty reduction, probabilistic thinking, and the value of information in decision-making.

Core V2 Concepts:

• Measurement as Uncertainty Reduction: Measurement is not about absolute precision, but about making observations that reduce current ignorance.

• Expected Value of Information (EVI): The economic calculation of whether measuring something is worth the cost.

• Janus-faced Uncertainty: Distinguishing between Aleatory (chance) and Epistemic (ignorance) uncertainty.

• Shannon Entropy: A measure of the freedom of choice or uncertainty in an information source.

STSP Presentations Mapping:

• Agentic AI & Modeling: Kim Warren’s sessions explore using system dynamics to build “digital twins” of organizations to enable self-managing enterprises.

• Early Warning Systems: Donnie MacNicol and Jonathan Norman present Human-Centric Data as a real-time lead indicator for spotting systemic variance early.

• Risk & Crisis: Denis Fischbacher-Smith’s keynote addresses the “shadow spaces” and weak signals that conventional risk management often ignores.

• Probabilistic Policy: Tika Rai applies holistic, data-driven methodology to urban governance, contrasting successful outcomes in Kansas City with failures in NYC and Toronto.

• Quantifying Complexity: Carola Ritzinger-Roll’s case study attempts to quantify perceived vs. data-demonstrated increases in complexity within engineering plants.

• Evaluation Maturity Matrix: Joe Brooks and Lauren Perkin use a mixed-method approach and a “system maturity matrix” to evaluate long-term place-based initiatives.

Personal Conference Agenda based on My Interests

Can you suggest a personal conference agenda for me based on my interests and questions

STPrism said

To suggest a personalized agenda, I have mapped your interests—methodological pluralism (Weaver, Wilk, Boothroyd), complexity (Cynefin, Allen), and organizational viability (Beer)—against the STSP 2026 Programme.

The following schedule is designed to move you from foundational theory into advanced practice, specifically focusing on the intersection of human relationality and structural cybernetics.

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Tuesday, 24th March: The Foundations of Intervention

• 13:30–15:00 | Keynote Session (Kingsley Suite)

  • Focus: Benjamin Taylor and Ellen Lewis.

  • Why: Taylor’s focus on “Systems Practice as a Humanism” mirrors Hylton Boothroyd’s shift from optimization to learning.

• 15:30–17:00 | Workshop/Training (Parallel Sessions)

  • Choice: Systemic consulting and facilitation (Benjamin Taylor, Byron Room).

  • Why: This session explicitly deals with “diagnosis-in-action” and the “muddy lowlands” of practice, which are central themes in James Wilk’s minimalist intervention.

  • Alternative: Critical Systems Heuristics (Carolina Cullington, Discovery Room). Essential if you want to explore the “Boundary Critique” concepts of C. West Churchman found in V2.

• 18:00–19:00 | Social (Students’ Union)

  • A pint with Mike Jackson. Use this to ask about the “Explore” stage of EPIC and how it relates to Warren Weaver’s organized complexity.

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Wednesday, 25th March: Viability and Dynamics

• 09:15–10:45 | Training Session (Byron Room)

  • Session: Advanced Viable System Model practice (Patrick Hoverstadt).

  • Why: This is the primary session for deep-diving into Stafford Beer’s VSM and Ross Ashby’s Law of Requisite Variety.

• 10:45–12:00 | Workshop (Creativity Room)

  • Session: How Does a System Feel? Embodied Stakeholder Mapping (Liene Kupča).

  • Why: Relates to George Lakoff’s “Embodied Cognition” and Gregory Bateson’s relational patterns mentioned in your interests.

• 16:00–17:30 | Workshop (Innovation Room)

  • Session: System Dynamics Modeling of the Agentic-AI, Self-Managing Enterprise (Kim Warren).

  • Why: Bridges the “hard” systems of Barry Richmond (V2) with modern AI, exploring how to automate policies within a complex system.

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Thursday, 26th March: Complexity and Multimethodology

• 09:00–11:00 | Keynote Session (Kingsley Suite)

  • Focus: John Seddon and Angela Espinosa.

  • Why: Espinosa is the leading expert on Stafford Beer’s legacy, providing the holistic and spiritual context of cybernetics.

• 11:30–13:30 | Final Workshop (Eliot Room)

  • Session: Discover the Cynefin Framework (Biagio Gugliotta).

  • Why: This directly addresses your interest in Dave Snowden’s complexity science and Warren Weaver’s distinctions of ordered vs. complex domains.

• 11:30–13:30 | Alternative (Coleridge Room)

  • Session: An Introduction to Multimethodologies (EPIC) (Matt Lloyd).

  • Why: If you want a practical tool to integrate all these ideas, the eCanvas presented here is the most condensed application of Michael Jackson’s Critical Systems Practice.

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Recommended Poster Viewing (During Coffee Breaks)

• Poster 4: Using Multi-Methodology… in a Refugee Charity (Meriel Davies).

• Poster 11: Symptom Structure: A Field Card for Rapid Systems Diagnosis (Keith Driver). This is highly relevant to the James Wilk “minimalist” mindset.

Draft a List of Questions for the Keynotes

Would you like me to draft a list of specific questions for you to ask the keynote speakers based on these sessions?

STPrism said

Based on your suggested agenda and your focus on shifting from “thinking” (theory) to “practice” (action), here is a curated list of questions to ask the keynote speakers and workshop leads at STSP 2026. These questions are designed to bridge the concepts of Weaver, Wilk, and Beer with the lived reality of organizational life.

1. For Benjamin Taylor (Keynote: “Systems Practice is a Humanism”)

• The Question: “You argue that ‘purpose is revealed in practice, not declared in strategy’. How do we move an organization from Hylton Boothroyd’s ‘Articulate Intervention’—where we talk about the system—to a state where the ‘relational infrastructure’ itself becomes the primary tool for change?”

• The Intent: This pokes at the tension between representational “thinking” and the “humanism” of acting with responsibility.

2. For Patrick Hoverstadt (Training: “Advanced VSM Practice”)

• The Question: “In your work on variety balances, how do you prevent the Viable System Model from becoming a ‘static’ diagnostic of ‘thinking’ rather than a ‘dynamic’ model of ‘how systems change’?”

• The Intent: This targets the risk of VSM being used as a mere mapping tool (thinking) rather than a catalyst for structural fitness (doing).

3. For Ellen Lewis & Juanita Bernal Alvarado (Keynote: “From Imported Frameworks to Grounded Practice”)

• The Question: “You’ve highlighted that ‘familiar systems tools struggle to hold what mattered most’ in community contexts. If we take James Wilk’s ‘Minimalist Intervention’ approach, what is the ‘miracle’ that happens when we stop trying to ‘import frameworks’ and start working with ‘lived experience’ as the primary source of knowledge?”

• The Intent: This explores the “Enough thinking” theme by questioning the utility of abstract theory in high-stakes, informal social systems.

4. For Biagio Gugliotta (Workshop: “Discover the Cynefin Framework”)

• The Question: “When navigating the ‘Complex’ domain, Dave Snowden suggests ‘Safe-to-Fail Probes’. How do we convince leaders in ‘Complicated’ (ordered) environments—like the MoD—that ‘enough thinking’ has been done and it is time to start probing the system to see how it responds?”

• The Intent: Directly addresses the transition from the “Ordered” domain of thinking/analyzing to the “Complex” domain of sensing/acting.

5. For Angela Espinosa (Keynote: “Stafford Beer: a truly holistic man and scientist”)

• The Question: “Stafford Beer linked cybernetics with art and spirituality. How can we use this ‘holistic’ perspective to move beyond the ‘fragmented perception’ described by Devesh Gupta, where our ‘thought’ actually prevents us from seeing the whole system?”

• The Intent: Connects the cybernetic “hard” systems with the “soft” interiority of the observer’s mind.

6. For John Seddon (Keynote: “Productivity and growth: a systems prescription”)

• The Question: “You critique ‘conventional command-and-control design’. Using Warren Weaver’s distinction, is the problem that politicians treat ‘organized complexity’ as if it were ‘simplicity,’ leading them to ‘think’ they can control outcomes through rigid metrics?”

• The Intent: Uses Weaver’s core terminology to challenge the “linear” thinking often found in public sector policy.

7. For Liene Kupča (Workshop: “Embodied Stakeholder Mapping”)

• The Question: “Your workshop focuses on how a system ‘feels’ through the body. In a world of ‘fragmented thought,’ how does embodiment provide a ‘difference that makes a difference’ (Bateson) that abstract modeling simply cannot?”

• The Intent: Specifically addresses the “thinking” limit by proposing sensory and relational experience as an alternative diagnostic tool.

8. For Kim Warren (Workshop: “System Dynamics Modeling of the Agentic-AI”)

• The Question: “If an Agentic-AI enterprise uses heuristics that ‘fail to take account of impacts in other agents’ areas,’ does it merely automate ‘bad thinking’ at scale?”

• The Intent: A warning about the “Enough thinking” theme—that the quality of the thinking embedded in the model (the V2 “plumbing”) determines if the system thrives or crashes.