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"Shifting Patterns" by Linda Booth Sweeney

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"Shifting Patterns" by Linda Booth Sweeney

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I've read the Linda's post on her blog about shifting patterns and I immediately went back to my childhood in my mind. By reading this, I discovered that even the smallest things in our life at a young age, like cleaning the room or reading a short story could show us some patterns/shifting patterns and we usually don't notice that or we notice that after X years. Why? Ofcourse in childhood we were unaware of many processes, but I think that just simple conversation with parents about patterns could change the child's behaviour and a view of the world around him. A lot of thing, activities in our childhood were some kind of patterns and nobody told us directly about them. What will I do with this knowledge? First of all, I'm going back to my hometown today, so it means that I'll meet with my 11-years old brother. I'm going to tell him about what I've learned about patterns and maybe this would change his approach to thinking! I can't wait to listen to his feedback.

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Stories. We love them. They're our most ancient form of education. And yet there's often a mismatch between the stories we love to read to children and the way the world actually works.

Think about the children's book I Know an Old Lady (by Rose Bonn and Alan Mill). It's about an old lady who swallowed a fly:
I know an old lady who swallowed a spider That wriggled and wriggled and tickled inside her. She swallowed the spider to catch the fly. But I don't know why she swallowed the fly! I guess she'll die!
The old lady goes on to swallow a mouse, a cat, a dog, a cow, and, finally, a horse - all to catch a pesky little fly. What happens when she swallows the horse? "She dies, of course!"

Ok. So it's not A →B→C, but A→ B→ C → D→ E→ F → G. End of story.

The story is dark, hilarious and a one-way pattern of connection, that is, a long, straight chain of events. Many things in a child's life do happen in a straight line of cause-and-effect: turn up the volume on the TV and the sound increases. A causes B. Done.

But cause-and-effect is not always straight. Indeed it can be loopy, web-like, cascading.
(Hang in with me now. We're going to enter the field of systems thinking. It may sound abstract but it is really practical stuff that is leading the way to solving some of the world's most pressing problems*).
Let's look at the loopy kind. In If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, a best-selling children's story by Laura Joffe Numeroff (illustrated by Felicia Bond), the mouse wants a cookie, then a glass of milk and by the end of the story, he wants another cookie. Here's how my eight-year-old nephew drew the chain of events in Numeroff's story:

Unlike the Old Lady who swallowed that fly, this closed loop of cause and effect, feedsback on itself to amplify change. Even the youngest readers intuitively know that the story could go on forever and if left unchecked, the mouse is going to want more and more cookies. When we understand how reinforcing feedback loops work, for example, we see how events build on one another - and how a small change can "grow" into larger and larger consequences as the pattern of connections loops and loops around. Children encounter these reinforcing feedback loops everyday. Think of mean words on a playground, rising noise levels on the bus ride home or the spread of a rumor.

Young children can learn to "close the loop" and take advantage of reinforcing feedback. Think about saving money in the bank. It doesn't take a math whiz to appreciate compound interest, which Albert Einstein once called "the most powerful force in the universe": An increase in the amount of money in the bank increases interest payments. An increase in the interest payments compounds the initial increase of the amount of a child has in the bank. It's not a far leap for kids to harness that same time of reinforcing feedback to grow, for instance, kindness in the classroom.

While reinforcing feedback loops act as engines of growth and decline, another closed loop of cause and effect -  balancing loops  - self-regulate and dampen change. By its very nature, balancing feedback works to brings things to a desired state and keep them there. Sometimes this is good (e.g. helping to keep a system in balance) and sometimes this is why we feel stuck.

When we understand balancing feedback, we understand that predator-prey relationships in nature are not one-way (where the predator simply eats the prey), but rather is made up of a closed loop of cause and effect, with births and deaths of one species affects the population of the other.

Closer to home, when we understand balancing feedback, we stop using our thermostat like a gas pedal, increasing or decreasing the temperature to suit our moment-by-moment needs. Rather we let the internal feedback structure do its work, allowing the temperature to self-adjust to a desired temperature. (Indeed we live on a planet controlled by balancing feedback loops but that is another post!)

A child who understand the basic idea of balancing feedback has a better understanding why things get stuck, and what they can they do about it. Let's use the example of a messy room and a child that is doesn't want to clean it. Throughout the week, the parent may reminds him: clean up your room! The child on the other hand, is otherwise occupied. By the end of the week, the parent's frustration is boiling over. Finally, the parent threatens a week of no TV or depending on the age, no cell phone and the child relents. When he shows his clean room, the parent is happy. But the next day, with the pressure off, he slowly reverts to his old habits and the room becomes messy again. Mid-way through the week, the parent's frustration builds again, this time with more pressure. The room clean up roller coaster continues.

(What to do? One way out of this dilemma is for the parent and child to sit down together, and draw simple diagrams showing the situation as one sees it. Then together they can figure out how to change the pattern.)
Growing Little Systems Thinkers
Back to children's stories. Don't get me wrong. I love stories with all kinds of plot lines. I've written two myself. But a diet of all one-way plots doesn't prepare our children for the diversity of real world patterns they will encounter.

So what can you do?

Encourage your little readers to be pattern detectives.

Encourage them to draw the patterns they see in stories. Then look beyond books to the cause-and-effect patterns they see on the playground, around the dinner table or on the front page of the newspaper.

By seeing these patterns, they will be more likely to stop jumping to blame a single cause for the challenges they encounter be curious about the multiple, interacting forces driving events and often, unintended impacts. As an added bonus, when children (and adults for that matter) see patterns, they are more likely to be able to understand them and when needed, to change them. (For an example with two siblings, read here).
Ask questions to focus on cause-and-effect:
o What happens next? (Keep asking. Sometimes you'll find a drives b which drives c which loops back to drive more or less of a).

o How is this pattern similar to that? When they get older recognizing these patterns helps build a bridge between different disciplines in school. Bridging science and social studies they might ask: How is the growth of the bacteria we're looking at through the microscope similar to the population growth in a particular region?

Whether we are 7 or 77, when we are aware of these closed loops of cause and effect, we are less likely to react to behaviors produced by them and more likely to be able to understand them and when needed, to change them.
Good Books for Little Systems Thinkers
For an introduction to systems-based stories for little systems thinkers, see the 2018 version of When a Butterfly Sneezes: A Guide for Helping Kids Explore Interconnections in Our World Through Favorite Children's Stories (2018, updated and revised with a new introduction by Peter Senge). For more on systems thinking, see: www.lindaboothsweeney.com.

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Stories. We love them. They're our most ancient form of education. And yet there's often a mismatch between the stories we love to read to children and the way the world actually works. Think about the children's book I Know an Old Lady (by Rose Bonn and Alan Mill).

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"Systems Approach Workbook - Systems Thinking and Complexity in Substance Use Systems" Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse

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"Systems Approach Workbook - Systems Thinking and Complexity in Substance Use Systems" Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse

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Not all systems are complex. Systems range from simple at one end of the spectrum to chaotic at the other. David Snowden suggests that rather than taking a 'one size fits all' approach to decision making and action, leaders need to identify the level of complexity in which they are making change and then respond appropriately. Effective ways of approaching, assessing, leading and changing systems differ according to the environment and the level of complexity. From this workbook, I got to know about domains of complexity (simple, complicated, complex and chaotic) and that these domains apply in organizational development, strategic planning and evaluation, and systems approach. It is important to remember that some issues may be in simple domain at first, but after receiveing more informations they can shift into another domain and our action will be needed. The idea is to recognize the level of complexity and act accordingly, not to reduce complex issues to simple ones. I think that it shows me a broder view of the company that I work in and situations that are happening every day.

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I've known the iceberg model before, but only the basic definition that we see only 10% of the problem (total mass of iceberg above the water), but 90% of the problem is invisible. This short video showed me that the underwater part of iceberg is divided into pattern, structure and mental level. What's particularly interesting about this breakdown is how it highlights the interconnectedness and depth of human behavior and systems. By examining events within the broader context of patterns, structures, and mental frameworks, it becomes possible to gain deeper insights into the underlying dynamics at play. This multi-level perspective offers a comprehensive approach to understanding and addressing complex issues in various domains, including psychology, sociology, organizational behavior, and conflict resolution.

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Karthik Suresh in a post on his blog prepare vision of soft and hard systems thinking. I can say that I've never heard about this division. Hard System Thinking (HST) includes the earlier forms of applied System Thinking that could be found in technology management or engineering. It operates under the assumption that the system under analysis is objectively real and inherently systemic. Moreover, HST suggests that external observers can intervene in the system to optimize problematic situations. It perceives the world as a structured system with a singular set of underlying values, norms, and a clearly defined goal. A machine could be conceptualized as a 'system' within this framework. Soft System Thinking (SST) is characterized by its systemic and iterative method of comprehending the world. It recognizes that social systems encompass a variety of worldviews and interests. SST involves the observer interacting with the system they are observing and doesn't aim to optimize it. Instead, it seeks to enhance the system through active involvement. Within this perspective, a social organization could be considered a 'system.' I think that it's important to remember that "a soft approach is not a weak one – just one that realises that real world problems are almost always more complex than you realise". The differences between hard and soft system thinking offer fascinating insights into the complexity of problem-solving and decision-making processes in various domains.

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The video explores the concept of interconnectedness and its relation to mindfulness. Jared Warren defines interconnectedness, also referred to as "inter-being", as the understanding that we are not separate entities but exist in relation to everything around us. We are part of a larger, interconnected system. The video highlights that understanding interconnectedness has practical benefits. It fosters compassion towards ourselves and others. Recognizing our shared humanity and the interconnectedness of well-being motivates us to avoid harming others or the environment. Mindfulness, the practice of present moment awareness, plays a role in appreciating interconnectedness. By being attentive to the present moment, we can experience the interconnectedness of ourselves with the world around us. Jared suggests that understanding interconnectedness can help us move beyond limiting labels and identities. We can appreciate ourselves as part of something larger than the labels we use. I think it's very interesting, because it challenges our typical way of seeing ourselves as isolated individuals. Instead, it offers a more expansive view where we're all connected. Our actions, big or small, ripple outwards and can impact others and the environment in unforeseen ways.  Understanding this interconnectedness can motivate us to be more mindful of our choices. What is more, recognizing our shared existence fosters a sense of empathy and responsibility for the well-being of others and the planet. In the end, what in my opinion is the main conclusion - mindfulness practices can help us directly experience this interconnectedness in our daily lives.

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Understanding Interconnectedness | Mindfulness for Humans 

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Understanding Interconnectedness | Mindfulness for Humans 

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Understanding Interconnectedness | Mindfulness for Humans