Shifting minds and shifting sands
In this talk, Simon will share some of his experiences in working with government-linked bodies in Asia and the Middle East seeking to harness new opportunities: to do new things or to do things differently. And yes: systems thinking can provide a solid basis for shaping and harnessing positive change, not just serve its traditional purpose of addressing the negative effects of ‘problematic situations’. As Donella Meadows wrote in the late 1990s, the highest points of leverage in a systems intervention come from paradigm and mindset shifts: reframing problems and opportunities in new ways which appeal to stakeholders’ emotions and generate meaningful action (indeed, ‘motion’). Simon will share some case studies from Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai and Myanmar which illustrate both the power of shifting mindsets in doing new things and some unintended (and in some cases extremely unfortunate) consequences of mindsets re-shifting or resetting: to new emergent frames or back to the status quo.
Simon MacCormac is a recent but proud member of SCiO, and a management consultant with more than 25 years’ experience.