HumilityIt seems to me that systems thinkers need a certain humility. Or, perhaps more precisely, I often observe that those who struggle to grasp systems ideas are frequently unwilling to acknowledge that they ‘don’t know’ in the encounter with a mess. They seem to prefer the false certainty of ‘knowing what they are doing’ and what the situation is ‘really like’ to the open-minded receptiveness that only comes with recognising uncertainty and incomprehensible complexity. False certainty is one way of ignoring a mess.
If I discipline myself not to pretend to have more certainty that I do, then I can develop a tolerance for ambiguity that opens me to other perspectives and to new insights. Often, of course, the frustrations of trying to deal with a mess strip away any illusions. Indeed, Marcia Salner has concluded that learners only begin to grasp systems thinking when they encounter a situation that frustrates all their previous problem-solving strategies. When I engage with other people’s messy issues in a consultancy context, I always have to pass through a panicky period where I feel I have nothing to offer, am out of my depth and that the situation is too complex to be improved. I have learned that this is an important part of my engagement. It strips away certainty and creates a space for real understanding to develop. (‘Trusting the process’ of systems thinking usually leads to a satisfactory outcome and mitigates the fear.) Humility is about recognising need; for other perspectives, for other knowledge and understanding, and for more engagement with understanding the situation. Humility thus turns to respectful curiosity. |
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