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We're committed to increasing public understanding of science about systems thinking. We strive to make the basic science of systems thinking accessible without loss of fidelity. One of the many ways we do this is through free posters and infographics. To every extent possible, we try to make as many of our findings freely accessible. We believe knowledge wants to be free or near-free. Large formats of these files can be found here.
Whether you're leading a small start-up, a multinational conglomerate, a non-profit or NGO, a government organization, or a K-12 school district, transforming your workforce into a thinkforce of adaptive systems thinkers can make good use of posters and other items (icons, chachkies, reifications, symbols, iconography, semiotics, customs, etc.) to drive the effort toward cultural change. With many of our diverse clients, the Drs. Cabrera use such items as seedlings and constant reminders of the cultural shift the organization or classroom is undergoing.
Powerful metaphors and cultural norms, manifested in posters and infographics, icons, chachkies (tchotchkes), and reifications of culture, are all important parts of any culture campaign with the goal of transforming your workforce into a thinkforce of adaptive systems thinkers. —Derek Cabrera
Basic DSRP Definition Poster Series
A general poster set (with and without description) to get folks to commit the four universal patterns of thought (DSRP) and their two elements...
"Systems Thinking Manifesto" Poster Series
From the book, Systems Thinking Made Simple, we made two versions of the manifesto.
"Types of Thinking" Poster Series
One of the things you'll fight against in introducing systems thinking is people's old fashioned and out dated understandings of "thinking." In particular "critical" and "creative" thinking. We did this poster series to help people (1) distinguish different types of thinking and their purposes, (2) see how they are all interdependent on one another, and (3) that DSRP is at the base of all of them
"Who is a Thinker?" Poster Series
Getting folks to think about who a thinker is in various work and school environments is a first step in getting them to rethink thinking...
DSRP Synonyms Poster Series
Helping people see how universal DSRP is is a big part of getting them to deep understanding. Our synonyms posters connect people to "all the things we can mean by 'Distinction making'" and so on.
Want this poster? Click here!
"Asking DSRP Questions" Poster Series
We wanted folks to feel FREE to ask questions, even whimsical about it. We wanted them not to worry about asking a dumb or far afield question. To let their minds be creative with questions. And, we wanted them to take a DSRP approach to questions (i.e., "Thinkquery"). Most of all, we wanted a poster series that would get people thinking... (we had so much fun with it, we created two D posters--you choose your favorite).
The "Systems Thinker Can Do" Poster Series
People want to get good at systems thinking, but it's not easy to know what skills actually translate into the ability to DO systems thinking better. We made this series to help list the specific things that each level of systems thinker needs to be able to do.
The "CAS" Poster Series
Because both DSRP and VMCL are CASs, understanding complex adaptive systems (CAS) is a critically important first step in developing a deep understanding of how systems, and systems thinking, work. We developed this series of posters to help people see that they are already familiar with the idea that simplicity underlies complexity and we gave them a few familiar examples.
The Power of Mental Models Poster Series
Not really a coherent "series," per se but we wanted to communicate the POWER of mental models so that folks could appreciate how influential they are...
"Deeper Dive" Poster Series
Here again, not really a "series," per se, but more like one-off posters that share the common theme of "taking a deeper dive" into the individual patterns. Whether we see that the universe is a huge part-whole (Systems-S) structure from the very tiny to the immensely large or that Relationships (R) can lead us to RDs and RDSs, these posters help folks to see that there's more than meets the eye to these simple structures... (Due to their deeper nature, some of these cross the rubicon from poster to infographic).
"VMCL" Poster Series
From the book, Flock Not Clock, VMCL details the four universal functions of systems leadership and complex adaptive organizations (CAOs)
"MAC" Poster Series
MAC, or Map, Activate Check is a great example of how DSRP can be used in educational setting to create new models based on research in cognition and education and learning. MAC is a universal educational, pedagogical, and androgogical model that identifies the three functions of of learning. It is an educationally-interdiscplinary model in that it brings together all of the coherent pedagogical approaches into a common framework called the Activation Continuum.
"RE:Thinking Documentary" Poster
"ThinkWater" Poster Series
ThinkWater is a USDA program that brings water and thinking together. See thinkwater.us for much much more. Here's a few posters we did for this effort. These posters are a great example of how "general theories" like DSRP and VMCL can be applied in very specific ways (education, conservation, science, etc) to very specialized domains (water).
"Systems Thinking Summary" Card Deck
We wanted to create a card deck that people could hold in their hand (tactile) that was also aesthetically pleasing (visual) and content rich and dense. Each card (14 in all) has front and back and walks the holder through the contents of the book, Systems Thinking Made Simple. Culminating at the end in application to ThinkWater, this too, is a good example of how "general theories" like DSRP and VMCL can be applied in very specific ways (education, conservation, science, etc) to very specialized domains (water).
Also, if you want to explore these posters as a systemic map rather than a list, check out the map here.
