Technological innovations and digital transformation initiatives are difficult to adopt. Some of the leading hurdles are culture, archaic IT systems, lack of skills, and lack of a clear leadership vision. During my last years in the Army, I had the opportunity to develop various strategic visions and organizational mission statements that were focused on delivering disruptive technologies and digitally transforming enterprises. Now that I am transitioning from the Army, I had time to reflect on the outcomes of these visions and learned some lessons along the way. The purpose of this article is to share these lessons and describe how I used systems thinking as a foundation to my leadership style, the culture I fostered, and the management of my efforts to achieve strategic outcomes. First, I will introduce systems thinking, then provide references to the various mission and vision documents I created and conclude with the lessons I learned. 

When does an animal become a pest? The distinction between pest and not-pest is explored in Bethany Brookshire's book, titled, Pests. Her work shows that there is a lot of effort and systems created to eradicate pests, so the distinction is not meaningless or merely semantic. It seems, that humans collectively strive to keep pests away through a variety of means from traps to poison to fences. 

I'd like to change your mind on something. I want to change the way you think about a number of words that used to mean things that we should question. I think if you hang with me here, there will be great benefit to you.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 28, 2022 — Maj. Thomas R. Ryan Jr. of the United States Army has published a paper in the September-October 2022 edition of the Military Review. His publication utilizes DSRP to give readers a deeper understanding of the complexities of warfighting. 

Why we start organizations is intimately tied to why we choose to work together in the first place. If your goal is to create a garden in your back yard, you don't start an organization--because that's something you can do on your own. We start organizations because what we want to get done, requires others. That might seem like a simple concept, but it is where organizational effectiveness is lost or won.

That nearly everything at CNN is "breaking news" is not new, as it's not breaking, but it is news. Now, CNN is trying to fix its breaking news problem. CEO Chris Licht wants them to rethink the distinction and what it really means (See CNN tries to fix 'breaking news'.)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 4, 2022 — Dr. Derek Cabrera, of Cabrera Research Lab and Cornell University gave a talk to the Learning and the Brain conference on the simple rules of cognitive complexity. He later participated with Dr. Laura Cabrera on a panel on the bias of critical thinking.  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 23, 2022 — Drs. Derek and Laura Cabrera, along with Elena Cabrera, of Cabrera Research Lab and Cornell University have published a new peer-reviewed article entitled, Distinctions Organize Information in Mind and Nature: Empirical Findings of Identity–Other Distinctions (D) in Cognitive and Material Complexity in the journal Systems.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

When mapping systems, achieving “compression” or “compressibility” in your maps is a best practice and a desirable skill. Compressibility is an indication of higher quality, more refined thinking. In other words, no matter how complex your map needs to be; if you can compress nodes in your map, it allows for you to see the 100,000 foot level; and then also have the ability to drill down to incredible levels of detail when needed for any node (sub-system) in the map.

Thanks Mark McGrath for producing this wonderful video with your son! That's why we named our book on adaptive organizations, "Flock, Not Clock"—because contrary to hundreds of years of conventional wisdom that guides us to build a clockwork organization that works like a machine, organizations are organic, adaptive superorganisms by nature...much more like a flock than a clock.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 4, 2022 — Drs. Derek and Laura Cabrera, along with Elena Cabrera, of Cabrera Research Lab and Cornell University have published a new peer-reviewed article entitled, The “Fish Tank” Experiments: Metacognitive Awareness of Distinctions, Systems, Relationships, and Perspectives (DSRP) Significantly Increases Cognitive Complexity in the journal Systems.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 2, 2022 — Drs. Derek and Laura Cabrera, of Cabrera Research Lab and Cornell University have published a new peer-reviewed article entitled, DSRP Theory: A Primer in the journal Systems.

Everything is not connected, thankfully. One thing I learned from studying network theory with some of the most remarkable people in the field was that: (1) not only is everything not connected but also (2) we wouldn't actually want everything to be connected.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The "Systems Thinking Loop" (or "ST Loop") is where the rubber meets the road for systems thinkers. It is perhaps the most important of all the images because it describes WHAT systems thinking really is and HOW to do it. It is best to digest this image (Systems thinking itself) in three bites (red):

Making distinctions is like painting a room. It's the boundaries that need the most attention. My parents hired a professional to paint our garage every couple years. As a curious kid, I would pepper him with questions. "How do you get it smooth? Would it be faster with a sprayer? Who picked the color?" A few years later my mom gave me the job of painting the bathrooms. I then advanced to painting houses as a summer job in college. I’ve painted more walls, doors, and window frames than I care to remember. 

Excerpt from the book, Flock Not Clock. The Power of Sharing Mental Models: Wow Stories "I am empowered to create unique, memorable and personal experiences for our guests." This simple employee statement (number 3 on the Ritz-Carlton’s list of 12 service values)[14] exemplifies a culture in which employees are empowered to learn. Ritz-Carlton, one of the world’s most recognized luxury hotel chains, with 90 hotels and resorts around the world, uses organizational learning to drive its award-winning customer service. They do so by building capacity through institutionalized processes they call Daily Line-Ups and Wow Stories that use the power of storytelling as a way to spread learning across the organization.

Another System Thinking trope that gets my dander up. Not because it's ill intentioned but because so many well-intentioned people do it.    In discussions on systems thinking we often hear, "well, it's all about the context." Or, "what about the environment."   Recently, our lab posted this post (and poster).  

The Australia and New Zealand Systems Society presents Systems Thinking in Daily Life with Dr. Derek Cabrera of Cornell University. 

The "Systems Thinking/ DSRP Loop" (below) captures Systems Thinking in a nutshell. The Loop helps us by understanding the simple rules for the organization of any thing, from material stuff to information and ideas. 

In 1900, 8 out 10 jobs involved work with one’s hands. Today, the statistic has flipped—8 out of 10 jobs involved working with ideas (with emphasis on medical, biomedical, and data analysis jobs).

This post is an excerpt of Chapter 6 of Flock Not Clock.

Across the animal kingdom, hunting methods vary. The more adept an animal is at distinguishing prey from not prey and further distinguishing one type of prey from another,  the more likely they are to eat. 

I am fascinated by how easily humans are manipulated; which is often the result of structural blindspots (bias) that are used against one another. In many ways, the last few years have been a crash course in the ways of manipulation, dishonest debate and dialogue, rhetoric, gaslighting and the like. But we often forget that these manipulations come very slowly, much like the fable of the boiling frog.

Before the tweet below, I didn't know what a fronted adverbial was.

At the risk of sounding utterly pedestrian, possibly histrionic, and opening myself to accusations of making much ado about nothing...Google Chrome tabs can now be grouped and this means we can save the world.

For decades I have built much of my understanding of reality on dialectical materialism and systems thinking learned from systems thinkers and scientists before me.  Maybe the most important of them was Dr. Edwards Deming. He created the “System of Profound Knowledge” (SoPK), which contains basic lessons for people who have worked with Total Quality Management (TQM), Six Sigma, and Lean (Toyota Production Systems). SoPK consists of four ways of "seeing" and understanding the world. Dr. Deming called them "lenses".  

This blog is from: https://gmschmidt3.medium.com/using-dsrp-in-health-and-human-performance-3a64432d83c9

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 6, 2021 — Dr. Derek Cabrera was inducted as Member of the International Academy for Systems and Cybernetic Sciences (IASCYS) for outstanding contributions to the field.

Designing an Effective Vision Can Be Challenging. By far, the most challenging aspect of Vision design is that they are ideally binary.  Where VMCL is concerned, there are five "checks" for Vision that help you to determine whether or not you've designed an effective Vision. They are:

Let’s take an example where a learner is asked to understand the species concept, a categorization system that explains that all life is organized according to: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species. There’s a few ways one might go through this process of being able to remember the species concept. First, a student might use flash cards:

A set of haunting images has hit the internet. Not Freddy Kruger haunting, but somehow equally disturbing for our brain.

This post was adapted from A Literature Review of the Universal and Atomic Elements of Complex Cognition. 

This post was adapted from A Literature Review of the Universal and Atomic Elements of Complex Cognition.  Researching any of the four DSRP patterns requires some creativity. One way scientists have achieved this is through the creation of "Greebles." Greebles are computer generated 3D figures that are intended to be unfamiliar to participants. 

Recently, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III ordered a "DOD-wide stand down to discuss the problem of extremism in the ranks (1)."  But what is a stand down order? 

This blog has been partially adapted from A Literature Review of the Universal and Atomic Elements of Complex Cognition. The Systems pattern (5) (the interaction between the elements part and whole) exists in mind and nature. Nature (a.k.a., reality) organizes parts into wholes; so, in order for humans to adequately describe nature, we should, too. Humans naturally systematize things by breaking them down into parts and wholes automatically, which often leads to the creation of "groupings" or what we often erroneously call "categories." However, categories require something else: a Perspective.

In this polarized landscape, unfortunately people focus less on what is being said than on who is saying it.

This blog has been partially adapted from A Literature Review of the Universal and Atomic Elements of Complex Cognition. You cannot feel empathy without taking perspective. Empathy is "the ability to understand and share the feelings of another [1]." It was once thought to be unique to humans, but empathy is found in a variety of organisms.

This blog has been partially adapted from A Literature Review of the Universal and Atomic Elements of Complex Cognition.

This blog has been partially adapted from A Literature Review of the Universal and Atomic Elements of Complex Cognition.

This blog was written by Paul Corsi as a project for PADM 5449 at Cornell University. 

This blog was written by Patrick Kastner as a project for PADM 5449 at Cornell University. 

This blog was written by Ashley Hock as a project for PADM 5449 at Cornell University. 

This blog was written by Austin Reid as a project for PADM 5449 at Cornell University.  The following three-part poster series is designed to serve as a teaching aid in preschool settings to assist children in understanding feelings and how to process them. This poster series can also be used as a teaching aid for children between the ages of three and five in other settings including daycare, summer camp or Sunday school. The first poster provides children with an opportunity to think about how they are feeling and explain why. Children will point to the face that most accurately mirrors how they are feeling and they can also learn from others how they are feeling. This check-in can also be done as a one-on-one exercise between a guardian and a child.  

Systems Exist

This isn't a blog post, but more of a blog-collection. 8 common things that systems thinkers like to say that are bupkis. We call them sacred cows of systems thinking because it is almost blasphemous to disagree with them, even though most have a much bigger bark than bite. Click on the links below (in the right column) to red the blogs on each sacred cow. And, one thing is for sure, dare to challenge any one of these sacred cows 🐮, and you'll take a rash of shit 💩for it. People will come out of the woodwork to defend them with great fanfare and handwaving 👋. But stay steady, the logic of nature 🌱 and science 🔬 eventually win them over, but it can take time ⌛. Ug. 😛 In the list below, click on the links to go to articles on the sacred cow and its scientifically-valid replacement.

This blog has been partially adapted from A Literature Review of the Universal and Atomic Elements of Complex Cognition. Some earlier research into perspective taking focused on the development of a "theory of mind," which is the ability to attribute beliefs, thoughts or feelings to another person (i.e., take another’s perspective).

When I was a child, my mother would tell me a story of her own childhood. She spoke of how the children would collect tin foil wrappers from gum and cigarette packs and make a foil ball that could be turned in to help the war effort. This was all part of a scrap drive that children and citizens participated in willingly that included gathering grease fat containing glycerine that was used for bombs and metals of all kinds used in bombers (made by an increasingly female workforce that “manned” the factories where B-52 bombers were being made). Everyone pitched in because “our boys” were “over there” fighting.

Tips for getting started doing systems thinking; incorporating systems thinking into your life and work.  Our recommended path for new systems thinkers is as follows:

Learn more about the definition of a slider, or read our other sliders... If you’ve raised children, you will inevitably be accused of being mean. You’re mean because you won’t let them have a third dessert. Because you insist that they wear a jacket when it is -5°F. Or, when you enforce a reasonable bedtime. But lately we’ve been noticing that Gen Z children—and to a large extent, the Millennial generation—think of a whole range of new things as “mean.” If I were to say for example, “hey can you brush your teeth? Your breath is terrible,” that might be considered mean. Even if, factually, you have halitosis.

To read more about jigs, check out the help article on jigs and also check out the cognitive jigs tag...

This blog has been partially adapted from A Literature Review of the Universal and Atomic Elements of Complex Cognition. When you picture things that think, a slime mold probably wouldn't be the first organism to jump to mind. However, research has shown that you don't necessarily need a brain to think; in other words, non-neural organisms can think. Previously, we discussed how chemotaxis is an inherently DSRP-based process which allows bacteria and cells to make distinctions, build systems, recognize relationships, and take perspectives. As research has shown, slime molds can do DSRP too. 

Staff: Tell me about the jig you call, "S-to-P Jig?" What is it? And, why is it such an important jig?

Learn more about the definition of a slider, or read our other sliders...

  There are a lot of techniques for learning something new and the learning sciences give us insight into what works: scaffolding, repetition, practice, metacognition, experiential learning and reflection, social cognition, embodied cognition, MAC, etc.

This blog has been partially adapted from A Literature Review of the Universal and Atomic Elements of Complex Cognition. Like a pack of wolves, tiny bacteria band together to hunt their evasive prey. In the soil underfoot, a nematode (“round worm”) avoids a deadly chemical. A cell runs toward oxygen to take part in photosynthesis and make the planet habitable by humans[1]. Brightly colored water droplets animate and chase each other across a glass landscape[2]. These are a few of the amazing microscopic dramas that occur just out of range of sight. Microbes and even non-living molecules use DSRP to sense and respond to their environment in a process called chemotaxis.

This post was adapted from Thinking At Every Desk.  While knowledge and thinking skills have always been important, globalization makes them more critical than ever before.

All this talk of culture is of course useless if it’s not implemented. Noting how difficult culture is to define and pinpoint for executives, Chris Cancialosi, Partner and Founder of gothamCulture, nonetheless argues:

There are moments in life when we instinctively know that our life is changing and that a corollary transformation of ourselves is underway. I am sure that every parent remembers with great clarity the moment that the totality of becoming a parent hit them. Never is there such a crystallization of absolute joy and heart stopping fear. The enormity of the responsibility of parenthood weighs on us before a child arrives in our home. Yet, we embrace the joy, face that fear, and take the responsibility head on to do what our instincts tell us to do as biological beings raising our young.

This post is an excerpt from Chapter 6 of Flock Not Clock.  By definition, all groups (including organizational members) are characterized by culture(s). 

This post is an excerpt from Chapter 6 of Flock Not Clock. Members of your organization will share a large number of mental models, all of varying importance and centrality to the organization and its success. So what are the most important mental models—the pillars of your culture? Where do you focus first and foremost? Organizational success depends on sharing the right mental models, ones that are complexity-friendly and promote learning and adaptation.

One of the specific and practical things you can do to build a culture of mental models is to get the entire leadership team to assume another as leaders of learning. The CEO must also serve as a Chief Learning Officer (CLO). This dual role is required not just of CEOs but of any leader across the organization. If managers make learning a priority, others will see it as a priority, too. Effective leaders are skilled “lead learners” adroit at inculcating culture (facilitating shared understanding of key mental models).

"I am empowered to create unique, memorable and personal experiences for our guests." 

This post is adapted from Chapter 5 of Flock Not Clock.

Mental models evolve because of the ST-DSRP Loop. That's systems thinking. That's human learning. That's science.

This post is an excerpt from Chapter 5 of Flock Not Clock. 

This post is an excerpt from Chapter 5 of Flock Not Clock. 

This post is an excerpt from Chapter 4 of Flock Not Clock. 

This post is part on an ongoing series. To see more, check out the Sliders tag.   Staff: You recently mentioned a slider called “What Got You Here Won't Get You There."  Can you give me a quick overview of what that's about?

This post was adapted from Chapter 4 of Flock Not Clock. What are core values, and why does every company feel compelled to create and publicize them? The growing emphasis on organizational culture has likely fueled this trend: many CEOs equate culture with values.

This post is adapted from Chapter 4 of Flock Not Clock. 

This post is an excerpt from Chapter 4 of Flock Not Clock. 

This post is an excerpt from Chapter 4 of Flock Not Clock. 

This post is an excerpt from Chapter 4 of Flock Not Clock. 

This post is adapted from Chapter 3 of Flock Not Clock

This blog is an excerpt from Chapter 3 of Flock Not Clock.

Staff: In our work the idea of mental models is prevalent. I know that you have this idea about how mental models cause your behavior. Can you give me sort of a quick overview on what that's about?

This post is an excerpt from Chapter 2 of Flock Not Clock. There’s a reason that there are articles in Inc. titled “The 9 Worst Mission Statements of All Time” and “Why Most Mission Statements Suck So Bad.” 

The Thinking Tree illustrates that the many types of thinking we distinguish are all borne of a simple set of cognitive rules. Mastering these simple rules will lead to mastery in the many types of thinking.

Over the years, different variables/symbols have been used for the same equation. In some cases for good reason, and in other cases solely because, like an English sentence, a mathematical sentence can be read and written in different ways toward the same effect. For example, take the following four equations:

This post is a part of the ongoing Slider series. Find more like this one here. 

If the right kind of Vision is so important, what explains companies that succeed with no [discernible] Vision? This is an important question we get asked a lot. Vision is a function of all organizations, whether formalized as companies, or informal groups of people such as protesters. Additionally,  "good"  Visions adhere to the vision-litmus-checks such that:

This post is an excerpt from Chapter 2 of Flock Not Clock. Many companies do in fact articulate a vision, though it often masquerades under different names like purpose or objective, and most frequently as mission.