Navigating the pitfalls of systems thinking in service design
Summary
While systems thinking is all hype, a superficial application may jeopardize the value of service design practice. This talk will highlight the hidden dangers of applying systems thinking, with examples of struggles from over a decade of practice experience. To support the ongoing evolution of service design, this talk will share strategies for adopting a systemic approach that amplifies, rather than erodes, the transformative potential of the practice.
Key Insights
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Mega maps and giga maps often flatten complex systems, creating overwhelming cognitive load and a false sense of total system capture.
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Embodiment and emotions are systemic capacities that help understand and navigate systems beyond cognitive maps.
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Small-scale actions and patterns reflect and can influence larger systemic changes, as shown by Adrian Marie Brown and Ing Duan’s work.
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The obsession with 'the system level' or macro changes risks overlooking powerful small-scale systemic work.
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Focusing on one next big transformation erases plurality, creativity, and the capacity for ongoing adaptation.
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The concept of the 'uncommons' supports holding multiple ways of knowing and ongoing negotiation within systems.
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Traditional project-based models constrain systemic work by limiting follow-up on ripple effects beyond project boundaries.
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Design research programs offer a programmatic, emergent alternative to linear project management frameworks.
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Reflecting critically on the internal systems within ourselves and teams is essential to avoid blind spots, like ignoring intersectional power issues.
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Service design risks perpetuating professional dominance instead of stewarding and supporting existing diverse systemic shaping by many actors.
Notable Quotes
"We have this tendency that once we’ve made this big mega map, we think we’ve captured the system in its entirety."
"Blushing is an inherently systemic reaction to understanding what’s acceptable in a situation or not."
"How we are at the small scale reflects the systemic patterns at the large scale. - Adrian Marie Brown"
"We often conflate the three horizons model into an A to B story, replacing the old with the new, erasing plurality."
"Design research programs are drifting frames for design experiments guided by collective inquiry questions instead of fixed outputs."
"We need to work at the systems inside ourselves, building critical reflexivity to recognize intersecting power dynamics."
"Instead of perpetuating professional design as the dominant approach, we should support people's many ways of shaping systems."
"Systems are shaped in the mundane, the insignificant, and the extraordinary every day."
"I would rather invite designers to be method makers than method users."
"Knowing where you are and where you stand is the start of addressing colonialism in embodied practice."
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