This is the seventh article in my 8-week series exploring foundational systems thinking concepts, written for the 2025 RE-AMP Systems Thinking Academy. Whether you’re following along with the series or diving deep into systems practice, this article explores Pattern Spotting — a practice for noticing and sensing emerging patterns in Complex Adaptive Systems. Learn more…
From perceiving the dance to joining it — where systems thinking turns into practice. It’s one thing to notice our mental habits or name the paradigms that shape our systems. It’s another to step into the flow of emergence, choosing moves that both respond to what is and invite what might be.
How do you know whether a situation calls for planning or emergence? The Stacey Matrix offers a pattern-sensing guide for understanding different types of complexity. By mapping agreement and certainty levels, you can choose approaches that fit the conditions—from simple solutions to navigating chaos.
Why do systems revert to old patterns even after successful change efforts? The answer lies in understanding human systems as Complex Adaptive Systems, where agents interact to create self-reinforcing patterns. Durable transformation requires reshaping deeper patterns of relationship, perception, and meaning—not just controlling surface behaviors.
Why does change feel so elusive, even when there’s abundant good will? The answer lies in shared paradigms—the invisible architectures of meaning that govern what we notice, ignore, and believe is possible. Discover why paradigm shifts are the most potent point of intervention for lasting systemic transformation
Why do we get stuck even when our hearts are in the right place? Systems thinking starts with understanding how our mental habits unconsciously reinforce the very patterns we want to change.
Deepen your systems practice alongside RE-AMP Network members in this unique Academy experience. Over 8 weeks, I’ll share the foundational articles written for this spring’s Systems Thinking Academy — concepts that help us shift from mechanistic thinking to working skillfully with complex adaptive systems. Perfect for network practitioners ready to practice the relational art of holding systems thinking steady when complexity gets uncomfortable.
Every map is an ontological assertion, staking a representational claim to some aspect of reality. Every map necessarily centers some things and excludes many things. This centering and exclusion shapes perception and constrains narratives.
How can we access the potential of a Social System Map if we’re not able to keep it up-to-date?
How place, process, relationships and tools support culture change for the 21st century – An interview with Network Weaving pioneer June Holley.