Stewardship Design Principles

2 “The nature of the organizational relationships that make the behavior of obviously living systems…give it a teleological quality not found elsewhere.” (Sommerhof, 1969, 147). “From the physical point of view, the characteristic state of the living organism is that of an open system.” (von Bertalanffy, 1950, 70). Biological Roots of Social Systems Theory ,[object Object]

“In systems research we are interested only in those systems which can display activity - that is behavioral systems.” (Ackoff, 1960, 332),[object Object]

Self-regulation and variety-increasing behavior

System-environment transactions and transformations (metabolism)

Negentropic (moving towards higher states of order, in opposition to the 2nd law of thermodynamics)

Equifinality (achieving same end from different starting points)

Growth through internal elaboration

Constancy of direction with change of position

Directive correlation of multiple stakeholders (moving towards same mutual goals without control or overt coordination - such as certain behaviors of bats, bees, birds…and people)1Emery, F.E. (1969) Systems Thinking. Penguin

4 Causal Texture of Organizational Environments2 L1 = Organization L2 = Environment Contextual Environments and Adaptive Responses Random Placid…………….Tactics Clustered Placid………….. Strategies Disturbed Reactive……….Operations Turbulent…………………….Values (Principles) as power fields 2Emery and Trist, (1963), Causal Texture of Organizational Environments.

5 Grounded (Experientially Derived) Theory ,[object Object],Trained in philosophy, architecture, and Wharton School social systems sciences (S3) program by some of the co-founders of social systems sciences (Ackoff, Emery, and Trist). Co-developed Future Stewards program (1995-2002) on 560 acre organic farm in West Virginia for high school students and their faculty, recognized by the United Nations in 1999 as a “global model of education and land stewardship”. Founded, directed and/or consulted to numerous eco-friendly nonprofit enterprises in PA, WV, PA, CO, VA, and Turkey. Co-direct Steward-Leadership MBA program at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU). EMU’s core values include stewardship, ethics, and global awareness.

6 A Walk in the Meadow (or the Woods)… The Stewardship Principles were co-discovered, over and over again, by students, faculty, farmers, foresters, and others through direct immersion in, and observations and reflections about, natural eco-systems, from wetlands to woodlands.

7 For the BIRDS…Stewardship Principles Balance Interdependence Regeneration Diversity Succesion

9 1a) Balance In Natural Ecosystems Healthy ecosystems balance inputs = outputs Global climate change represents an imbalance in our planet’s ecosystem

10 1b) Balance In Human Ecosystems At the individual level…balancing priorities At the organizational level…balancing assets and liabilities

11 1c) Balance as a design principle Balance to find/give guidance…such as balancing board composition Balance to measure performance through the balance scorecard

13 2a) Interdependence in Natural Ecosystems Group interdependence increases likelihood of survival – finding food, escaping predators, finding mates… Symbiotic relationships among different species…for food and propagation.

14 2b) Interdependence in Human Ecosystems Global trade and financial integration Group interdependence

15 2c) Interdependence as a design principle Design socio-technical systems to achieve sustainable innovation. Example: Hudson River Valley land use practices (upstream) and NYC water quality (downstream) Interdependence of internal and external organizational environments to develop adaptive, learning organizations

17 3a) Regeneration in Natural Ecosystems Newt regeneration - how Nature designs resilience Forest deer browse line – imbalanced deer-predator system impedes forest regeneration and resilience

18 3b) Regeneration in Human Ecosystems Human regeneration takes many forms to maintain health and happiness… Organizational regeneration likewise sometimes requires moving out of our comfort zones to renew our human bonds and teamwork.

19 3c) Regeneration as a design principle Organizations can play critical roles in co-producing resilient communities as a regenerative design principle

21 4a) Diversity in Natural Ecosystems Caddis fly larvae serves as a bio-indicator of healthy streams that support diverse macro-invertebrates Natural ecosystem diversity is experiencing rapid rates of extinction, suggesting how stewardship has become a design priority

22 4b) Diversity in Human Ecosystems We celebrate multi-cultural and multi-ethnic diversity… …as well as multilingual and multinational diversity.

23 4c) Diversity as a design principle Multi-dimensional approaches to diversity offer pathways to sustainability. Developing diverse teams enhances success in global and multicultural markets.

25 5a) Succession in Natural Ecosystems Healthy forest edge (ecotone) succession supports diverse wildlife. Healthy plant and wildlife succession cycles though many stages.

26 5b) Succession in Human Ecosystems Family succession reminds us about our legacy. In communities and organizations, we experience succession through the cycle of human talent.

27 5c) Succession as a design principle Designing for organizational succession remains key to sustaining organizations Designing for community succession means moving beyond survival to resilience

28 From Resilient Living Systems to Designed Resilience We observe iterative design principles in the evolution of living systems. Stewardship design principles also work best when considered as part of an iterative design process

29 Designing a Resilient Future Living systems co-create and co-contribute to their habitats as resilient eco-systems. Humans enjoy the capacity to design the future.

Stewardship, Spirit and Enlightened Shared Interest How do stewardship design principles resonate with spiritual ideals of Creation Care, and the concepts of spiritual and appreciative intelligence? How might businesses and communities better exercise their stewardship responsibilities while achieving greater resilience and eco-advantage? How might we serve as stewards in co-designing a more resilient future as part of Nature, not apart from it?

32 References Appleton, A. (2002) “How New York City used an ecosystem services strategy carried out through an urban-rural partnership to preserve the pristine quality of its drinking water and save billions of dollars.” A paper for Forest Trends, Tokyo. See http://ecosystemmarketplace.com/documents/cms_documents/NYC_H2O_Ecosystem_Services.pdf Benyus, J.M. (1997). Biomimicry: Innovation inspired by Nature. New York: Morrow. Emery, F.E. (editor), (1969). Systems Thinking. Penguin. Emery, F.E. (1977). The Futures We Are In. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff. Emery, F. and Trist, E., (1963). The Causal Texture of Organizational Environments in the XVII International Congress of Psychology, Washing, DC, 20-26 August. Esty, D. and Winston, A. (2009). Green to Gold: How smart companies use environmental strategy to innovate, create value, and build competitive advantage. Hoboken: John Wiley. Glaser B.G. and Strauss A. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. New York: Aldine Laszlo, C. (2008). Sustainable value: How the world’s leading companies are doing well by doing good. Stanford: Stanford University Press Smith, A.E. (2009). “Stewardship Design Principles”. Submitted to the Global Forum 2009 Conference on Business as an Agent for World Benefit. Cleveland: June 2-5, 2009 Sommerhof, G. (1969). “The Abstract Characteristics of Living Systems”, in F. Emery, (ed), Systems Thinking, Penguin. Thatchenkery, T. and Metzker, C. (2006). Appreciative Intelligence: Seeing the mighty oak in the acorn. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler. von Bertalanffy, L. (1950). “The Theory of Open Systems in Physics and Biology” in F. Emery (ed.), Systems Thinking, Penguin. Wilson, E.O. (1992). The diversity of life. Cambridge: Belknap Press. Zohar, D. and Marshall, I. (2000). Spiritual Intelligence: The ultimate intelligence. London: Bloomsbury.

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