David Peter Stroh - Systems Thinking for Social Change : A Practical Guide to Solving Complex Problems, Avoiding Unintended Consequences, and Achieving Lasting Results download ebook EPUB, TXT, FB2
9781603585804 English 160358580X Donors, leaders of nonprofits, and public policy makers usually have the best of intentions to serve society and improve social conditions. But often their solutions fall far short of what they want to accomplish and what is truly needed. Moreover, the answers they propose and fund often produce the opposite of what they want over time. We end up with temporary shelters that increase homelessness, drug busts that increase drug-related crime, or food aid that increases starvation. How do these unintended consequences come about and how can we avoid them? By applying conventional thinking to complex social problems, we often perpetuate the very problems we try so hard to solve, but it is possible to think differently, and get different results. Systems Thinking for Social Change enables readers to contribute more effectively to society by helping them understand what systems thinking is and why it is so important in their work. It also gives concrete guidance on how to incorporate systems thinking in problem solving, decision making, and strategic planning without becoming a technical expert. Systems thinking leader David Stroh walks readers through techniques he has used to help people improve their efforts to end homelessness, improve public health, strengthen education, design a system for early childhood development, protect child welfare, develop rural economies, facilitate the reentry of formerly incarcerated people into society, resolve identity-based conflicts, and more. The result is a highly readable, effective guide to understanding systems and using that knowledge to get the results you want., Have you ever felt like you and others are working hard to change organizations and systems but in reality making little long-term difference? In Systems Thinking for Social Change, noted author and consultant David Peter Stroh offers a clear solution: thinking systemically about what you want to accomplish enables you to achieve better results with fewer resources in more lasting ways. Here's how systems thinking can help people achieve sustainable, breakthrough change: Increases your awareness of how you might unwittingly be contributing to the very problems you want to solve. Empowers you to identify where you can have the greatest impact on others, by first reflecting on and then shifting your own intentions, thinking, and actions. Mobilizes diverse stakeholders to increase the effectiveness of the whole system over time instead of meeting immediate self-interests. Helps you and others anticipate and avoid the unexpected negative consequences of well-intentioned solutions. Identifies ways to best leverage limited resources for lasting, system-wide improvement. Motivates and encourages continuous learning. Stroh, cofounder and principal of Bridgeway Partners, walks readers through the successful methods he has used over the past thirty-five-plus years to help nonprofit, business, and public organizations solve complex and chronic problemsfrom homelessness to issues plaguing public health, public education, affordable housing, criminal justice, and more. The result is a highly readable, accessible, and effective guide to understanding systems and using that knowledge to get the results you want in support of what society needs., What can be Done When Our Best Intentions Create Unintended Problems-such as temporary shelters increasing homelessness or food aid accelerating starvation? After decades of helping change makers in the nonprofit, public, and private sectors address tough social problems, systems-thinking expert David Stroh shares the pioneering framework that has sparked breakthrough and long-lasting change. In Systems Thinking for Social Change Stroh uses detailed, real-world examples that explain how to avoid unintended consequences by clearly seeing how complex social systems operate, and then using that knowledge to break the cycles that hold back true progress through collaborative problem solving, choice making, and strategic planning. This highly readable and accessible book will help change makers achieve the results they want in support of what society needs. Book jacket.
9781603585804 English 160358580X Donors, leaders of nonprofits, and public policy makers usually have the best of intentions to serve society and improve social conditions. But often their solutions fall far short of what they want to accomplish and what is truly needed. Moreover, the answers they propose and fund often produce the opposite of what they want over time. We end up with temporary shelters that increase homelessness, drug busts that increase drug-related crime, or food aid that increases starvation. How do these unintended consequences come about and how can we avoid them? By applying conventional thinking to complex social problems, we often perpetuate the very problems we try so hard to solve, but it is possible to think differently, and get different results. Systems Thinking for Social Change enables readers to contribute more effectively to society by helping them understand what systems thinking is and why it is so important in their work. It also gives concrete guidance on how to incorporate systems thinking in problem solving, decision making, and strategic planning without becoming a technical expert. Systems thinking leader David Stroh walks readers through techniques he has used to help people improve their efforts to end homelessness, improve public health, strengthen education, design a system for early childhood development, protect child welfare, develop rural economies, facilitate the reentry of formerly incarcerated people into society, resolve identity-based conflicts, and more. The result is a highly readable, effective guide to understanding systems and using that knowledge to get the results you want., Have you ever felt like you and others are working hard to change organizations and systems but in reality making little long-term difference? In Systems Thinking for Social Change, noted author and consultant David Peter Stroh offers a clear solution: thinking systemically about what you want to accomplish enables you to achieve better results with fewer resources in more lasting ways. Here's how systems thinking can help people achieve sustainable, breakthrough change: Increases your awareness of how you might unwittingly be contributing to the very problems you want to solve. Empowers you to identify where you can have the greatest impact on others, by first reflecting on and then shifting your own intentions, thinking, and actions. Mobilizes diverse stakeholders to increase the effectiveness of the whole system over time instead of meeting immediate self-interests. Helps you and others anticipate and avoid the unexpected negative consequences of well-intentioned solutions. Identifies ways to best leverage limited resources for lasting, system-wide improvement. Motivates and encourages continuous learning. Stroh, cofounder and principal of Bridgeway Partners, walks readers through the successful methods he has used over the past thirty-five-plus years to help nonprofit, business, and public organizations solve complex and chronic problemsfrom homelessness to issues plaguing public health, public education, affordable housing, criminal justice, and more. The result is a highly readable, accessible, and effective guide to understanding systems and using that knowledge to get the results you want in support of what society needs., What can be Done When Our Best Intentions Create Unintended Problems-such as temporary shelters increasing homelessness or food aid accelerating starvation? After decades of helping change makers in the nonprofit, public, and private sectors address tough social problems, systems-thinking expert David Stroh shares the pioneering framework that has sparked breakthrough and long-lasting change. In Systems Thinking for Social Change Stroh uses detailed, real-world examples that explain how to avoid unintended consequences by clearly seeing how complex social systems operate, and then using that knowledge to break the cycles that hold back true progress through collaborative problem solving, choice making, and strategic planning. This highly readable and accessible book will help change makers achieve the results they want in support of what society needs. Book jacket.