Future of Systems Thinking Sheffield
Ashley Moran
CC'd to Agile Yorkshire list as there's some member overlap - if you're on both groups please reply to systhi...@googlegroups.com though!
I came up with the idea of a Systems Thinking group last November, while I was still living and working in Sheffield. I'm now living in Stoke and working in London, and soon I'll be in London full-time. (Back in November, I didn't know I'd have to move.) On that basis, it's impractical for me to organise the group, or at least, for me to actually attend it.
So we need to figure out what the best way forward is. Some options I've thought of are:
* End the group
This is the least desirable option, as it's the failure case. A slightly better decision would probably be to keep the group "dormant" rather than actually kill it.
* Keep the group the same, and nominate a new leader
The reality is that a new leader would have to step up. My experience running user groups and watching others, is that new groups need seeding with effort from the organiser. I've made some effort to do this so far (the CRT and Gov IT sessions), and whoever takes it on would may need to do the same, or it could be a very quiet group.
* Mobilise the group
We could rebrand it as "Systems Thinking Yorkshire". I chose (despite some initial resistance) the group's name on the basis that it's a Systems Thinking group, in Sheffield. If it was "Systems Thinking Yorkshire" it could be in Sheffield, Leeds, Harrogate, York, Barnsley, etc under the same name. Although, to my knowledge, Agile Yorkshire has always been in Leeds! (I stand to be corrected there though)
Whatever happens, the group should continue to meet the goals of as many members as possible, as outlined on the first meeting. It needs to be as many as possible as: fun, educational, supportive (to the needs of members applying Systems Thinking), productive (in terms of output), and positively influential (to local businesses etc). We've already made a good start to some of these.
What are your thoughts? Combinations of the above and completely new ideas are more than welcome!
On a slightly more immediate note, next Thursday would be our adopted regular meeting. Would anyone like to try and organise a session? I'm working in London that day, but can be back early if anyone wants to do anything. A session would be great (assuming there's room at the GIST Lab or elsewhere), or we could have a social pub meeting. Maybe someone can think of a Systems Thinking spin to the Royal Wedding?
Let me know what you'd all like to do this time round.
And thanks to everyone who has attended so far :-)
Cheers
Ash
--
http://www.patchspace.co.uk/
http://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleymoran
Paul Brayford
Did anyone have any thoughts on this?
The rebrand to "Systems Thinking Yorkshire" had some attraction to me
as I live in East Yorkshire and feel that there are others outside the
Sheffield area who might be interested. I know I only managed to
attend one session but I'm still keen to meet up with like minded
people.
Paul Brayford
On Apr 24, 3:24 pm, Ashley Moran <ashley.mo...@patchspace.co.uk>
wrote:
Ash Moran
On 26 May 2011, at 11:35, Paul Brayford wrote:
> Did anyone have any thoughts on this?
Hi Paul
Looks like everyone is busy with other things. It's a shame I had to leave Sheffield before the group gathered momentum, as it would have been easier to carry on then.
> The rebrand to "Systems Thinking Yorkshire" had some attraction to me
> as I live in East Yorkshire and feel that there are others outside the
> Sheffield area who might be interested. I know I only managed to
> attend one session but I'm still keen to meet up with like minded
> people.
I think it could work, as most of the group were travelling from further north. But it would take someone to organise it regularly, arrange a venue, fill in with content etc. If anyone is willing, please step forward :-)
I'm only working part-time at the moment, so I'd only have to take half a day off to fit in another Thursday meeting, if anyone is interested? I'd have to check if the GIST Lab was available, but I could probably make it up at the end of June.
I had an idea for a session, which is to divide the evening into 4 or 5 slots where people can summarise a systems thinking book they like, and answer questions from the group. I'm a compulsive reader, so this appeals to me :-) I've recently read The Choice[1], which is about using the idea of Inherent Simplicity in systems to learn to think clearly. And on John C and Paul H's recommendation, I'm going to start Thinking in Systems[2,3] soon. Others in the group are much more widely read, so I think we could get a lot of content.
Anyone interested? Alternatively, we could run another session of someone's choosing, and save this in case I'm in the area in future.
LMK
Cheers
Ash
[1] http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10040649-the-choice
[2] http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3828902-thinking-in-systems
[3] http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1603580557