Sociotechnical Systems Change in Practice
 

8 Hours - Limited Seats

How can you change the system you're in? How can you align your actions to systemic change? These are big questions, and at the risk of being a li’l bold: we’ve been approaching them all wrong.

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By the end of this four-part, live, online course, you'll learn a new approach for making sense of a system and changing it: ​​

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• Map and analyze sociotechnical systems.

• Identify complex dynamics within sociotechnical systems.

• Imagine alternative futures, develop a shared, collective vision, and map backward in time.

• Develop sociotechnical, system-aligned strategies — for yourself and your organization — that map backward from the future you want to create.

• Create a shared collective vision and facilitate collective action.

We’re experiencing rapid technological change, and the future feels inevitable, as if we can’t chart a new path, solve big collective problems, or change entrenched systems. But the work of changing systems — the actions we take as individuals, as leaders in organizations, and in collaboration with diverse stakeholders — starts with four mindset shifts:
 

• Problems are made, not found. Everything starts with a problem statement, but where do those problems start? I think we’re looking in the wrong place.

• Systems are sociotechnical and complex. There is no such thing as a ‘tech problem.’ All ‘tech problems’ are entangled in social systems, and the systems don’t behave like you think.

• Changing sociotechnical systems requires thinking backward, not forwards. The future isn’t a neat theory-of-change away.

• There are no ‘tech solutions,’ only sociotechnical interventions with consequences for different communities, societal values, and how power is (or isn’t) redistributed. Our individual, organizational, and collective actions need to reflect this reality or else we become trapped in feedback loops of our own making, bringing the past into the future.

This might sound a li’l wonky, but don’t worry, the course is interactive and practical. It draws on the concepts and frameworks I use in Untangled — from science and technology studies, complex systems, and future thinking — to help you develop practical strategies for aligning your actions, and your organization's actions toward sociotechnical systems change. You’ll practice applying these strategies in the context of AI, social media, and your working world.

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If that sounds fun, wait until you get your hands on the 80-page workbook I developed for the course. The workbook isn’t the course — filling out a workbook over Zoom would be boring. The workbook will instead accompany you on your practical learning journey, offering tools, approaches, and resources to help you apply these mindset shifts in your working world.

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In short, you'll come out of this course with a new vision and draft strategy for how to change the system you’re in, vetted by me and your fellow participants, and a workbook full of exercises so you can do it all again in the future.

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