Derek Cabrera, PhD

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.

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'.)

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.

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.

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):

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.

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:

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? 

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

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.

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.

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.

  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.

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

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:

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 article is a part of the sliders series. You can find more slider posts at the sliders tag. 

The term cognitive slider was coined by Derek Cabrera to communicate “a relatively small, nourishing or ‘meaty’ mental model” for use in increasing one’s prosocial or emotional intelligence. This blog is part of a set of blogs under the tag "sliders." Be sure to check out the tag to read them as a group and learn how sliders are at play and can help us in our everyday lives. Over the years, I’ve worked with many students and folks who are new to the workforce. I must say, working with a team of young, passionate professionals who still believe they can change the world for the better (and likely will) is one of the best parts of my job. 

Distinctions involve several different skills blended into one simple underlying structure where two elements (identity and other) make up any distinction. These skills include:

Prominent scholars in the field accept that the history and development of systems thinking has occurred in "waves" as originated by Flood, Jackson, and Keyes[1][2] and built on by Midgley, et. al.[3][4][5] This metaphor was extended in the late '90s early '00s with Cabrera[6] [7] and Midgley [8] and the suggestion of a 4th Wave. The “waves” have proven to be a useful and powerful conceptual, historical, and pedagogical model (as long as we are aware of periodization bias and what’s-nextism bias). For a more in-depth review of the "waves" see Cabrera[6].

The "The Irony of Law" is that there is a great deal of Distinction between the "letter of the law" and the "practice of the law." 

I want to introduce you to some ideas that may seem philosophical and abstract, perhaps academic.  I hope that, in the end, these ideas will lead you to insights thatare extremely pragmatic and useful.

The term cognitive slider was coined by Derek Cabrera to communicate “a relatively small, nourishing or ‘meaty’ mental model” for use in increasing one’s prosocial or emotional intelligence. This

I've taught SystemsThinking/DSRP[1] for a long time... I've taught it to scientists, doctoral students, and graduate students. I've taught it to high schoolers, teachers of all stripes, grade

As we enter week three of social isolation [1] , I am reminded, and frankly a little surprised, at just how important the ideas we teach are. You see, as a

What Are Jigs? Jigs are re-useable structures of knowledge and thinking that increase cognitive efficiency. Think of a jig as a common conceptual template that can be used over and

Jigs and sliders are often simple, but incredibly useful. Our graduate students sometimes have difficulty differentiating them. Here's a definitional guide to help. Then look at the jigs and sliders

1. The Crisis of Coronavirus What's the crisis? As President John F. Kennedy explained: In the Chinese language, the word "crisis" is composed of two characters, one representing

A fable tells the story of when the inventor of chess showed his new game to the Emperor of India. The Emperor is so impressed he exclaims, “name your reward!

I write about the identity-other structure of distinctions quite a bit. Mostly because people underestimate (1) the complexity that underlies this seemingly simple concept; (2) how pervasive this structure is

Coronavirus and Covid-19 is an emerging phenomena and we are distinguishing exactly what it is and its effects on an evolving basis. Cutting through the noise and finding some signal

What if I told you that you could become an advanced systems thinker, with skills that surpass the majority of folks, by (1) learning and practicing just 4 building blocks

I'm going to soapbox for a moment. I get a little uncomfortable when people make sweeping generalizations, especially when they are born of a binary way of thinking. When Simon

One of the things I find in our efforts to promote public understanding of science and systems thinking is that people have a hard time realizing the ubiquity, pervasiveness

I recently received an email from the "Head of Happiness" at ghost.org and it actually made me smile. Of course, it also helped that the words she used to

When we take a different perspective (P), the distinctions (D), part-whole systems (S), and relationships (R) we see are different, too. Systems are made up of many identities and each

In the past we believed #systemsthinking (ST) was a stepwise process. Today, it is now clear that it is an emergent property of very simple rules that can be combined

One of the questions we get a lot is: How do I get better at #systemsthinking / #dsrp? The simple answer is: practice. But practice what? Well, here are 3 tips:

We make #distinctions constantly. We really cannot NOT make a distinction. Despite their constancy, like breathing, it becomes something we take for granted. Few of us, when starting the car

I’ve studied Systems Thinking for thirty years in one way or another. Formally for 20 of those years. When I first came to the formal field of systems thinking

After decades of researching DSRP and over a decade of teaching it to all ages, I've come to a conclusion. The hardest thing to understand about DSRP isn't DSRP. That

These four beautiful DSRP posters, or all 4 together, can be found here. Enjoy! "We wanted to get people asking different kinds of questions. Questions that lead to new

Design Thinking is the latest exotic heuristic to show up in fishmongers' stalls. The old saying, "give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach a

"The #1 place that folks mess up with systems thinking is distinction making. The repercussions can be quite serious." Our research lab has three focus areas: basic research

How does one find the patterns that connect such a vast world of systems models, approaches, frameworks, and theories? aka, a general theory of systems thinking? Here's my advice after

There's a common perception that thinking and doing are really different things. In the world of systems thinking this translates into debates about systems thinking versus systems action. I have

Relationships are action-reaction. Interaction. Causes and effects. Feedback. Any two things or ideas can be related and any thing or idea could be a relationship itself. The mind is fluid

How we organize the parts of a system into a whole matters. Every whole has parts. Every part is a whole which has parts. And, every whole is a part

Change our perspective and the distinctions we make change, too. And of course, the part-whole organization and the relationships we see can change as well. Every perspective has a point

Distinctions are not things but negotiated boundaries between ideas/things; a boundary between the identity and other that occurs fractally (across scale in the same pattern). The key skill in

The discussion of emergence is always one that gets tempers roiled in the systems thinking community. Indeed, it is one of a few of what I call "sacred cows

I was recently asked the following: "Derek, when I first came across DSRP, I was a little 'turned off' by S being called 'Systems' . For some people systems are

In our research with K-12, undergraduate, graduate students, and the general public over the last decade, a number of patterns emerge that show us the specific things systems thinkers do.

Categorical thinking is ubiquitous, but there are more elemental structures hidden underneath. Knowing these structures will decrease lock-in and bias and increase critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity as well

The internet is full of memes. Here's one that's an entertaining idea embedded in a pop-culture image. Meme: "an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture".[1]

This entry is part of our [`everydayST`](http://stdaily.ghost.io/whats-the-everyday-dsrp-tag/) series. Learn more about the [`everydayST`](http://stdaily.ghost.io/whats-the-everyday-dsrp-tag/) tag. Understanding the idea of and being

This entry is part of our [`everydayST`](http://stdaily.ghost.io/whats-the-everyday-dsrp-tag/) series. Learn more about the [`everydayST`](http://stdaily.ghost.io/whats-the-everyday-dsrp-tag/) tag. The value of systems thinking is

This entry is part of our [`everydayST`](http://stdaily.ghost.io/whats-the-everyday-dsrp-tag/) series. Learn more about the [`everydayST`](http://stdaily.ghost.io/whats-the-everyday-dsrp-tag/) tag. I went with my wife for

The current international borders were obviously not in place when the Pangea supercontinent existed. But this map relates two ideas (Pangea and Current International borders) into a single whole (system)

Einstein famously said, "if you can’t explain something simply you don’t understand it." Of course, there's lot's of nuance in understanding systems thinking but sometimes one

There are a number of folks in the systems thinking world who are of the opinion that when discussing what is universal to all attempts at thinking systemically, it all

All images credits from STMS[^n] I mentioned in a previous [blog](http://stdaily.ghost.io/what-are-the-patterns-that-connect/) that systems thinking itself is a complex adaptive systems (CAS) and that underlying

Today I am writing about systems thinking, and how it can be equated with looking beyond the surface to see invisible structure. My library is chock full of books and

I can sum up what people want to know about systems thinking in two questions. First, they want to know what systems thinking is, which several previous blogs here, here,

I was recently asked a number of questions which I will reframe some for clarity. 1 Is systems thinking (ST) a thing? Or more specifically, is ST a single thing?

Image credit[^n] The term wicked problem is thrown around a lot in the systems thinking world. But what is a wicked problem? The following summary of the definition of

"The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking." - Albert Einstein[1] In a previous post I cautioned newcomers to the field against

Recent discussion prompted by the query "What is systems thinking?" has motivated me to write this blog, in part because there is no simple, widely agreed upon answer

Image credit: M.C. Escher.1 There is an often cited, well-worn debate around *epistemology versus ontology* in systems thinking. It is in ways reminiscent of the *nature versus nurture*

Let’s deconstruct this often made claim that systems thinking (ST) stands in contrast to (in this case on opposite ends of a continuum from) reductionism. This claim appears reasonable

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Madison, WI, October 25, 2014 —A surprising collection of educators, leaders and water industry members are gathering on the University of Wisconsin campus next week. The group

OCTOBER 16, 2014 From a trek I did in Europe. A slow journey across a single distinction. An aerial view of the European Alps...a geological boundary. The geopolitical border

Are the visualization approaches designers use a conscious choice? I was at the Design School the other day at Cornell University and I had the opportunity to leisurely walk around

June 11, 2014 The original Dalai Lama and founder of Buddhism, the Hindu Prince Gautama Siddhartha, said, “We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts.

April 14, 2014 Cortex Man (scientific name: Cortical Homunculus) is important for anyone who works in human learning (hint: that's really everyone... educators, corporate trainers, public speakers, parents, employers, marketing

Cornell scientists, the root crisis is thinking... by Derek Cabrera (originally printed in Sustainable Tompkins blog) What is the Crisis? My colleagues and I surveyed the faculty of Cornell University

On August 12, 2006, residents of Turner, ME found a dead animal in Debi Bodwell’s backyard. The carcass was found near a road, and neighbors speculated that a car