Agile is about getting out of our silos, working together to create value for the customer. However, most organisations consist of many not that well aligned parts. We attempt to cooperate but more often than not we end up frustrated, wondering why they don’t get it. What we need is a way to talk about how the parts are connected and what this means for the whole. Ergo systems thinking.

This workshop will give you a chance to explore what systems thinking can bring to your team or organisation. The language of systems thinking focuses on interdependencies, on wholes rather than parts. The tools of a system thinker such as causal loop diagrams, behavior-over-time diagrams and systems archetypes help to make these interdependencies visual. We start the workshop by getting acquainted with systems thinking through some of the system archetypes. Next you will draw a causal loop diagram of an issue of your group’s choice. Once complete you will ‘walk through the loops’ of the diagram and ‘tell the story’ to be sure the loops capture the correct behavior. You will experience how causal loop diagrams can be used to create shared stories about complex problems. And how these stories, by capturing the interdependenties of the systems involved, can help dissolve the ‘us versus them’ mentality often seen in organisations.