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Must Watch Videos
Must Watch Videos
Adopting Systems Thinking and Design Thinking
Adopting Systems Thinking and Design Thinking
Pragya introduces systems thinking and design thinking and explains the power of using both philosophies together. Systems thinking and design thinking should be leveraged to solve not only problems at work/school but also the problems we face in our daily lives!
Systems Thinking 101
Systems Thinking 101
Understanding the mechanisms of global systems like fast fashion and industrial agriculture does not need to be difficult. Anna Justice hopes to break down how we think about these systems by demonstrating how inputs and outputs are linked together. From there, she hopes to show how we can apply this concept to systems in our own lives and live more sustainably.
Systems Thinking: Mental Models
Systems Thinking: Mental Models
This short video breaks down mental models and how they impact everything from decision-making, beliefs, priorities, and their impact on your actions.
Changing the Paradigm
Changing the Paradigm
Patrick Payton speaks to a community about changing its beliefs about itself and about a boom-and-bust mentality. Throughout this TedTalk he breaks down the components of paradigms and how to shift them, starting with changing your own mental model. ,
Chasing Systemic Change
Chasing Systemic Change
This talk highlights the critical design flaw of incentivizing isolated impact within our social service sectors and in its place, offers a model known as a collective impact system that is specifically designed to reorient the entire humanitarian paradigm towards a holistic, systemic approach.
How to Create Systems Change Together
How to Create Systems Change Together
Adrian Röbke shares how leaders can drive systemic change. In a time of global crisis, we are all called to act for the well-being of people and the planet. Weavers cultivate collaborations across organizations to realize a thriving world for all. Learn why weaving social ecosystems is the edge of leadership.
Websites & Online Resources
Websites & Online Resources
Toolbox for the Systems Change Mindset | National Fund for Workforce Solutions: This version of the toolbox covers the foundations of systems change. In future updates, find additional tools for addressing more advanced stages of systems change. We invite you to bookmark the toolbox and return to it in the coming months for additional resources on evaluation, data strategies, and policy.
Academy for Systems Change: This website offers an assortment of articles, videos, handbooks, reports, and tools as a way to continue to grow your systems awareness and understanding collectively. Here you will find insights from systems practitioners in our core network, and highlights from on-the-ground system change efforts.
Books
Books
Thinking in Systems: A Primer - by Donella H. Meadows, Tia Rider Sorensen, et al. - A foundational, accessible guide to systems thinking. Meadows introduces feedback loops, leverage points, and paradigms in a way that directly mirrors the mapping and diagnostic work in Part I and Part II.
The Water of Systems Change - by John Kania, Mark Kramer & Peter Senge - This book (and its widely used framework) explores the six conditions of systems change—policies, practices, resource flows, relationships, power dynamics, and mental models. It aligns perfectly with the emphasis on paradigms, leverage points, and more profound structural transformation.
Trauma Stewardship — Laura van Dernoot Lipsky - A powerful resource for understanding vicarious trauma, organizational culture, and sustainable practice. It complements Part III’s focus on staff well‑being, secondary trauma, and trauma‑responsive organizational supports.
The Deepest Well — Nadine Burke Harris - A compelling exploration of ACEs, trauma, and the long-term impact of adversity. This book reinforces the “why” behind trauma‑informed systems and helps participants connect trauma science to organizational change.
Emergent Strategy — Adrienne Maree Brown - A beautiful companion to the training’s emphasis on reciprocity, emergence, adaptive cycles, and co‑creation. It offers practical, relational approaches to change that align with your coalition‑centered, trauma‑informed lens.
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