In the image above Otto Scharmer distills the essence of systems change. Here is the video where the image comes from. He starts talking about systems thinking at about 17.40 (the wole video is a good watch).
A key point is to step into a future that wants to emerge, our institutions have to be part of this. In Aotearoa, for many Māori, that future is mana motuhake. Can we imagine a future where mana motuhake is realised and co-exists alongside institutions? The pathway there is in co-creation and the quality of our relationships.
A second example is shifting from the industrial food system to regenerative food systems.
Note the four steps:
- You cannot understand a system until you change it (Kurt Lewin).
- You cannot change a system until you transform consciousness.
- You can’t transform consciousness until you make a system see + sense + invert itself.
- You can’t lead systems transformation until you sense and presence the future as it emerges.
How can these steps inform a change of the food system? There is an inference that we need to take tangible steps in change. So when I go to the Growers Market on Saturday morning to buy food, am I beginning to understand a food system? And if I focus on the contrast between what I experience at the markets to what I experience at the supermarket am I beginning to sense and presence a future that wants to emerge?
My awareness develops as I reflect on the food I grow, or buy, and eat. Everybody’s experience of sensing the need for systems change will be different. I was diagnosed as diabetic. The dietary changes I made led me to reflect more on the food I eat, and I found myself eating far less processed food. Thankfuly, I am no longer diabetic, but diabetes has taught me a lot.
I am now looking around the north to find examples, perhaps embryonic examples of a regenerative food system. That is about step four, “sense and presence the future as it emerges.” If we can see examples of what the future might look like, we are more likely to replicate and support it.
We are nine months away from the 2025 Climate Action Conference. By the time we get there I intend to engage with others in this process of envisioning a regenerative food system.
Climate Action Tai Tokerau 