Today we have Stephanie Ryan with us, who’s a systems design consultant with the Demeter Matrix and B Lab. She’ll be keynote speaking at the Opportunity Green conference on the topic “A Paradigm for Consistent Success in Sustainable Business”.
Could you tell us a little about yourself and what you do?
Sure, my background for the last 20 years has been as a consultant in organizational learning and development, based on the book The Fifth Discipline, The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization by Peter Senge. Peter was also the co-founder of the consulting firm Innovation Associates, where I worked for about 7 years starting in 1986. Systems Thinking is one of the five disciplines and a personal passion of mine. I love looking at the world through a more holistic or structural lens and exploring where the area of leverage exist in complex issues. I define leverage as where the least amount of energy can create the greatest impact. Organizations produce the results they are designed for or architected for, systems thinking offers a way to explore and redesign the systemic structures to be more aligned with the result we want. I am shifting away from my work as a consultant because I think there is more leverage right now in growing an emerging sector of the economy of private enterprise for public benefit. I have just begun working part time for B Lab, a non-profit that certifies sustainable businesses, as B Corporations. These are business who have met transparent, comprehensive performance metrics and have legally expanded the responsibilities to include stakeholder interests. For more info check out http://www.bcorporation.net
Is holistic business systems modeling the foundation for sustainable enterprises?
I would reframe that to say creating a shared understanding of the fundamental inter-relationships within a business is the foundation for sustainable enterprise and this can be achieved through dialogue, causal loop diagramming and ultimately computer based modeling. I am curious what you mean when you say “sustainable enterprise” is that another way of saying triple bottom line businesses?
Does systems thinking appear to be a difficult concept for many people to grasp?
Most of us are natural systems thinkers, or at least we start out that way as children, however we aren’t all encouraged to remain so curious about our worlds. Many of us start to hold to our certainties which frankly gets in the way of receiving contradictory information and developing a more holistic understanding systems. We assess the world from our own point of view rather than seeking to understand how contrary points of view can both be true. I like to ask, what is the understanding of the system that can have both make sense, which usually means taking time and space into account. Many organizations I have worked with have silos, and from each silo there is a theory of what is right and wrong, and often what is wrong in another department. That’s not a systems view, a systems view understands the key inter-relationships and seeks to understand how we might be shooting ourselves in the foot before we begin blaming the “other”. It really depends on how you define systems thinking. Some people equate it to being able to diagram the circular relationships of cause and effect that feedback on themselves, otherwise known as loops or causal loop diagrams. I believe the heart of systems understanding is being willing to see the world.
What are a few of the challenges one faces in this field?
Systems are best understood from a multi- stakeholder conversation. Particularly conversations where inquiry and listening take precedent over advocacy. I find people’s willingness to convene these and capacity to engage in real dialogue is limited. However, there is a saying: Go slow to go fast.
Could you give us a glimpse into your presentation at Opportunity Green?
I would hope to clarify for folks what I mean by systems thinking, offer examples from various perspectives and suggest a practice or two people will find helpful integrating into their lives. If that’s too short of a glimpse- here’s a bit more. I refer to systems thinking as as process of collective inquiry which helps us to understand the dynamic complexity of our lives. In an organization that can translate into really understanding your ‘engine of growth’ and what capacity constraints will inevitably be encountered because of your success. We often have growth as the goal without realizing the consequences of growth, as they translate to our employees, community or environment. In an environmental context, think of the commons - air and water quality which we are starting to become acutely aware of our individual impacts on. From a systems perspective, it’s not about any one person or organization’s particular use of or impact on the commons being the problem, however when you put all those uses together we find ourselves with severely degraded commons or what in systems language is referred to as a “Tragedy of the Commons”. Part of my excitement about B Corporations is there is a structure now that facilitates business optimizing for stakeholder interests rather than optimizing for shareholder interests. As more and more companies become B Corporations, our commons will become more sustainable and ideally vital.
