Assignment List: Participant Observation Practice

Assign-ment #	Session #	Progress-ion Note #	Assignment Name	Discipline / Scope
1	1	1	Observing Public & Private Spending Over Time	ST
2	1	1	Identifying National Persistent Issues	ST
3	1	2	What type of complexity is each approach primarily designed to address?	ST
4	2	2	Mapping Persistent Issues Using the Four Quadrant Framework	ST
5	2	3	Identification of news reports illustrating Balancing Causal Loop Structure & Reinforcing Causal Loop Structure
6	2	3	Identification of organisational statements illustrating Balancing Causal Loop Structure & Reinforcing Causal Loop Structure	ST
7	3	4	Identify words, conditions and situations commonly associated with: A. Reinforcing Loops (e.g. increasing unemployment, dependency) B. Balancing Loops (e.g. treatment, arrest) Build a dictionary of common words	ST
8	3	4	Growth Ministries vs Stabilising Ministries	ST
9	4	5	Study Laws 1–6 of Dynamic Complexity.	ST
10	4	5	Understanding how countries measure unemployment	ST
11	4	6	Following Human Benefit	ST
12	4	6	The Rise of the Creative Economy	ST
13	4	7	Reading the Botswana Persistent Unemployment Study through the Laws of Dynamic Complexity	ST
14	4	7	Discovering That the Laws Already Live Among Us	ST
15	4	8	The Twelve Emotional Needs	ST
16	4	8	Healing Vicious Circles — Systems Thinking and Cultural Wisdom	ST
17	5	9	Laws 7, 8 and 9 and Urgent Files	ST
18	5	9	The Remaining Laws and Urgent Files	ST
19	5	10	The Leverage Point and Unemployment Study	ST
20	5	–	Test the Statement: Does Polygyny Reinforce Itself?	ST
Adv 1	5	–	Hypothetical Situation: Law 9 and A National Agricultural Commercialisation Initiative	ST
Adv 2	5	–	Summarise: The National Economic Operating Systems in 200 words	ST
21	5	11a	Emotional Needs, Self-Perception and Relationship Narratives	ST
22	5	11a	Deriving the key economic formulas	ST

ASSIGNMENT #1

OBSERVING PUBLIC & PRIVATE SPENDING PATTERNS OVER TIME

Participants are requested to begin observing and informally ranking long-term patterns of:

▪️ public spending
▪️ private spending
▪️ and sectoral development priorities

across Botswana’s historical development trajectory from approximately the 1900s to the present where possible.

The intention is not to produce perfect academic research at this stage, but to begin strengthening:
▪️ systems observation
▪️ historical pattern recognition
▪️ structural comparison
▪️ and behavioural analysis over time.

Participants are encouraged to observe patterns across areas such as:

▪️ education
▪️ health
▪️ public administration
▪️ social justice programmes
▪️ judiciary systems
▪️ agriculture
▪️ manufacturing
▪️ infrastructure
▪️ mining
▪️ social support systems
▪️ and productive sector development.

Participants may begin asking questions such as:

Which sectors appear to have received the greatest long-term attention and investment?
Which sectors appear persistently underdeveloped despite repeated discussion?
What patterns become visible between spending behaviour and national outcomes?
Where does productive capacity appear to strengthen or weaken over time?
What relationships may exist between spending patterns, employment, GDP growth, and social behaviour?

The assignment is intended to help participants begin shifting from:
▪️ isolated issue analysis

toward:
▪️ structural systems observation across time.

ASSIGNMENT #2

IDENTIFYING PERSISTENT NATIONAL ISSUES

Participants are requested to begin compiling a working list of:
▪️ persistent national issues

which continue resurfacing repeatedly across Botswana’s development environment over long periods of time.

The emphasis is not merely on current problems, but on:
▪️ issues that appear resistant to interventions
▪️ issues repeatedly discussed across administrations
▪️ or conditions which continue recurring despite programmes, reforms, funding, or policy adjustments.

Examples may include:
▪️ unemployment
▪️ youth unemployment
▪️ poverty
▪️ corruption
▪️ housing challenges
▪️ agricultural underperformance
▪️ manufacturing weakness
▪️ inequality
▪️ education-employment mismatch
▪️ institutional inefficiencies
▪️ public service frustrations
▪️ crime
▪️ water challenges
▪️ or other recurring structural concerns.

Participants are encouraged to begin observing:

▪️ How long has the issue existed?
▪️ What kinds of interventions are usually introduced?
▪️ What patterns repeat?
▪️ What emotional reactions usually surround the issue publicly?
▪️ Does the issue reduce temporarily and later return?
▪️ What may be structurally reinforcing its persistence?

The assignment is intended to help participants begin distinguishing between:

▪️ events
and:
▪️ systems patterns,

as well as strengthening their sensitivity toward:
▪️ persistence
▪️ behavioural recurrence
▪️ and structural causation over time.

Participants have now begun:
▪️ systems observation
▪️ pattern recognition
▪️ and persistence identification work.

ASSIGNMENT #3

Detailed Complexity vs Dynamic Complexity

One of the challenges facing modern organisations is that many management tools are highly effective at solving detailed complexity but are less effective at addressing dynamic complexity.

For this exercise, participants are requested to examine several commonly used management approaches and consider:

What type of complexity is each approach primarily designed to address?
Which of the Five Disciplines does it most closely resemble?
What strengths does it bring?
What limitations might emerge if it is used alone?

Participants may consider examples such as:

Agile
Six Sigma
Lean Management
After Action Reviews (AARs)
Project Management
Process Management
Strategic Planning
Risk Management
Quality Management
Performance Management

The purpose is not to critique these approaches.

The purpose is to strengthen the ability to distinguish:

Detailed Complexity

many variables
technical coordination
process improvement
efficiency

from

Dynamic Complexity

delayed consequences
unintended outcomes
feedback effects
persistent issues over time

Participants should also explore whether each approach appears most closely aligned with and provide reasons for their choice(s):

Personal Mastery
Mental Models
Shared Vision
Team Learning
Systems Thinking

or some combination of these disciplines.

Submission Format

Approach	Detailed Complexity	Dynamic Complexity	Related Discipline(s)	Notes

Expected Length

2–3 pages

ASSIGNMENT #4

Mapping Persistent Issues Using the Four Quadrant Framework

Using the persistent issues identified in Assignment #2, participants are requested to place each issue within the Four Quadrants Framework.

The purpose is to begin observing where persistent issues are concentrating and how different parts of the national system interact.

Participants are not yet being asked to explain the issue or solve it.

The purpose is to strengthen classification and observation discipline.

The Four Quadrants

H-H — Human Quadrant

The Human Quadrant focuses on:

people
families
communities
culture
values
behaviour
beliefs
aspirations
social wellbeing

Examples:

unemployment
substance abuse

H-N — Natural Quadrant

The Natural Quadrant focuses on:

land
water
biodiversity
climate
ecosystems
natural resources
environmental sustainability

Example:

drought

H-E — Economic Quadrant

The Economic Quadrant focuses on:

production
employment
industry
agriculture
manufacturing
trade
infrastructure
investment
wealth creation

Example:

investment flows

H-G — Governance Quadrant

The Governance Quadrant focuses on:

leadership
institutions
policy
legislation
public administration
budgeting
accountability
national coordination

Example:

policy implementation

Assignment Table

Persistent Issue	H-H	H-N	H-E	H-G

Participants may place an issue in more than one quadrant where appropriate.

Reflection Questions

After completing the table, reflect briefly on:

Which Quadrant appears to contain the greatest number of persistent issues?
Which Quadrant appears least represented?
Which issues seem to span all four quadrants?
Which Quadrant appears to receive the greatest policy attention?
Which Quadrant appears to receive the least attention despite its influence on the others?

Purpose

This exercise prepares participants for later work involving:

Behaviour Over Time (BOT) analysis
Dynamic Complexity
System Archetypes
National Systems Mapping
Onion Model analysis

The purpose is not yet explanation.

The purpose is learning to locate issues before attempting to interpret them.

Assignment #5

Identification of:

Three news reports illustrating Balancing Causal Loop Structure.
Three news reports illustrating Reinforcing Causal Loop Structure.

For each example, explain:

Why it appears to represent the loop.
Which variables are interacting.
What behaviour might emerge over time.

Assignment #6

Identification of:

Three organisational mission or vision statements illustrating Balancing Causal Loop Structure.
Three organisational mission or vision statements illustrating Reinforcing Causal Loop Structure.

For each example, explain:

Why the statement appears to represent the loop.
Which variables are interacting.
What behaviour might emerge over time.

Participants who have not yet completed these assignments are encouraged to use the coming days to catch up before Session 3.

Assignment #7

Identify words, conditions and situations commonly associated with:

A. Reinforcing Loops (e.g. increasing unemployment, dependency)

B. Balancing Loops (e.g. treatment, arrest)

Prepare separate lists of ten words each and explain why each belongs within the selected loop structure.

Assignment #8

Growth Ministries vs Stabilising Ministries

The purpose of this assignment is to help participants understand that governments generally perform two broad functions:

Growth Ministries

These ministries are primarily concerned with:

▪ Expanding productive capacity
▪ Increasing national output
▪ Generating employment
▪ Building infrastructure
▪ Developing human capability
▪ Increasing exports
▪ Improving competitiveness
▪ Creating future prosperity

These ministries largely influence the productive side of the economy.

Stabilising Ministries

These ministries are primarily concerned with:

▪ Maintaining social order
▪ Protecting public health
▪ Administering justice
▪ Preserving security
▪ Managing public administration
▪ Correcting deviations from desired standards
▪ Responding to societal stresses and failures

These ministries largely respond to conditions already occurring within society.

Assignment Instructions

Part A

Divide Botswana’s ministries into:

Group 1: Growth Ministries

Ministries whose primary focus is:

▪ Production
▪ Capability building
▪ Economic expansion
▪ Infrastructure development
▪ Wealth creation

Group 2: Stabilising Ministries

Ministries whose primary focus is:

▪ Regulation
▪ Administration
▪ Security
▪ Justice
▪ Social protection
▪ Health correction
▪ Governance maintenance

Part B

For each ministry:

Identify its primary purpose.
Identify the principal condition it seeks to influence.
List two or three major interventions undertaken by the ministry.
Determine whether those interventions are primarily:

▪ Capacity-building actions
▪ Corrective actions
▪ Regulatory actions
▪ Protective actions

Discuss whether the ministry’s activities:

▪ Generate productive capacity,
or

▪ Stabilise the consequences of conditions generated elsewhere.

Part C

Using the unemployment study and Session 3A discussions:

Discuss the following question:

If productive capacity fails to grow sufficiently, which stabilising ministries are likely to experience increasing pressure?

Examples may include:

▪ Health
▪ Local Government
▪ Police
▪ Justice
▪ Social Protection
▪ Youth Services

Explain the reinforcing and balancing dynamics involved.

Expected Insight

Participants should begin to recognise that:

Growth ministries help create the conditions for future prosperity.
Stabilising ministries help society cope with conditions already present.
A nation can become increasingly dominated by stabilising activity when productive capacity does not keep pace with population growth and societal needs.
Many persistent national issues become visible in stabilising ministries even though their origins may lie within the productive system.

The next step would be for us to produce a model answer using Botswana’s current 18 ministries and classify each one into Growth, Stabilising, or Mixed (Growth + Stabilising). That would make an excellent Session 3B discussion exercise because several ministries sit on the boundary between the two categories.

Assignment #9

Study Laws 1–6 of Dynamic Complexity.

For each law:

▪ Provide the meaning in your own words.
▪ Cite one or two examples.

Examples may be drawn from:

▪ Organisations
▪ Families
▪ Communities
▪ Schools
▪ Businesses
▪ Government institutions

The objective is to recognise the law operating within real-world situations.

OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT #10

UNDERSTANDING HOW COUNTRIES MEASURE UNEMPLOYMENT

Purpose

Many national policies, programmes and public discussions are based upon unemployment statistics. Before attempting to solve unemployment, it is important to understand how unemployment itself is defined and measured.

This assignment invites participants to investigate how different countries determine their unemployment figures and to reflect on the strengths and limitations of these approaches.

Assignment Requirements

Research and compare unemployment measurement practices used by different countries and international organisations.

Consider the following questions:

How is an “unemployed person” defined?
What conditions must a person meet to be counted as unemployed?
How are people treated who:
▪ Have stopped looking for work?
▪ Work only a few hours per week?
▪ Participate in informal economic activities?
▪ Engage in subsistence agriculture?
▪ Are students?
▪ Are undertaking training programmes?
What role do labour force surveys play?
What standards are recommended by the International Labour Organization (ILO)?
How do different countries address:
▪ Youth unemployment?
▪ Long-term unemployment?
▪ Underemployment?
▪ Informal employment?
What limitations exist in current unemployment measures?

Reflection Questions

Does measuring unemployment provide a complete picture of productive participation within a society?
What important forms of work may be excluded from unemployment statistics?
How might unemployment figures differ between developed and developing economies?
What implications do measurement choices have for national policy decisions?

Deliverable

Prepare a brief summary (1–3 pages) outlining:

▪ Key findings.
▪ Similarities and differences between countries.
▪ Limitations of existing measurement approaches.
▪ Questions arising from your research.

Purpose for Systems Thinking

The objective is not simply to learn how unemployment is measured, but to recognise how definitions, assumptions and measurement choices influence how societies understand and respond to persistent issues.

Assignment 11

Following Human Benefit

Central Research Question

One of the assumptions of economics is that production exists to satisfy human needs.

This assignment asks you to investigate that proposition from a different perspective.

Instead of asking who buys, or who pays, continue tracing every expenditure until you reach the final human being whose needs are ultimately being met.

Do not stop at:

governments,
businesses,
NGOs,
banks,
schools,
hospitals,
industries,
households.

These are intermediaries.

Continue tracing the flow until you reach the final human beneficiary.

The Research Question

If every economic activity is followed to its ultimate destination, who ultimately benefits from global economic activity?

Your Investigation

Develop a methodology that enables you to investigate this question.

Beginning with any expenditure, continue asking:

Who ultimately benefits?

When that answer is obtained, ask again.

Who ultimately benefits from that?

Continue until the chain can no longer be extended.

Only then have you reached the end of the investigation.

Construct a Proxy Model

Using your methodology, estimate the proportion of global economic activity that ultimately benefits:

Ultimate Beneficiary	Estimated Share (%)	Evidence
Men
Women
Children
Shared Benefit

These are working estimates intended to stimulate investigation rather than represent established facts.

Historical Behaviour

Now extend your investigation through history.

Estimate how the distribution of ultimate human benefit has changed over time.

Use approximately 50-year intervals beginning in 1500.

Year	Men (%)	Women (%)	Children (%)	Shared (%)
1500
1550
1600
…
Present

Support your estimates with evidence wherever possible.

The Deeper Questions

Having completed your investigation, reflect on the following:

What structural changes appear to have shifted the destination of economic activity?
Which industries expanded because of those shifts?
Which industries declined?
What assumptions did you make?
Which assumptions require further testing?

Stretch Question

Suppose your estimates are broadly correct.

What implications might they have for:

economic development,
industrialisation,
household income,
environmental sustainability,
future patterns of global demand?

Submission

Prepare:

Your tracing methodology.
A Behaviour Over Time table (1500–Present).
Supporting evidence.
A two-page discussion explaining your reasoning.
Questions that emerged during your investigation.

Instructor’s Note

There are no predetermined answers to this assignment.

The purpose is not to defend a particular conclusion, but to learn how to follow the flow of economic activity beyond its immediate transactions to its ultimate human destination. Only then can we begin to ask how the changing needs of people have shaped economies over time.

──────────────────────────────

Assignment #12

The Rise of the Creative Economy

Central Question

As societies become wealthier, what proportion of their economic output is increasingly devoted to creativity, culture, sport and recreation, and what does this reveal about the long-term evolution of human needs?

Research Question

Using data from 1950 to the present, determine how global spending on:

Arts
Cultural Industries
Sport
Recreation & Leisure

has changed over time.

Express your findings as:

Absolute expenditure.
Percentage of GDP.
Percentage of total household expenditure (where available).

The Investigation

Having completed the data collection, answer the following questions.

1. Behaviour Over Time

What long-term patterns do you observe?

2. Structural Change

Why did these patterns change?

Identify the major structural forces responsible.

3. Development

Do countries appear to spend proportionally more on creativity, culture, sport and recreation as incomes rise?

Support your conclusion.

4. The Systems Question

At what stage of development does a society begin shifting a significant proportion of its resources from meeting basic needs to investing in creativity, identity, leisure and human fulfilment?

5. Looking Ahead

Assuming the current trajectory continues,

what might the composition of global spending look like in 2050?

Prepare a Behaviour Over Time projection and explain your assumptions.

Stretch Question

This is the one I think STRLDi participants will wrestle with.

If the purpose of an economy is ultimately to improve human wellbeing, should societies expect an increasing share of GDP to be devoted to creativity, culture, sport and recreation as they become more prosperous?

Or is there a natural limit?

Explain your reasoning.

Assignment #13

Reading the Botswana Persistent Unemployment Study Through the Laws of Dynamic Complexity

Having now completed the study of Law #1, Law #11, Law #2, Law #9, Law #3, Law #7, Law #4 and Law #10, participants are invited to revisit the Botswana Persistent Unemployment Study through the lens of systems thinking.

Rather than reading the study simply for its findings, recommendations or conclusions, read it as a systems thinker. Observe the behaviours, feedback structures, delays, mental models and interactions that have been discussed throughout the programme. Consider how multiple Laws of Dynamic Complexity may be operating simultaneously within the same section of the study.

As you work through the study, reflect on the following questions:

Where do you observe Law #1 – Today’s Problems Come from Yesterday’s Solutions?
Where do you recognise Law #11 – There Is No Blame?
What examples illustrate Law #2 – The Harder You Push, the Harder the System Pushes Back?
Where does Law #9 – You Can Have Your Cake and Eat It Too, but Not at Once – become evident?
Where do you observe Law #3 – Behaviour Grows Better Before It Grows Worse?
How does the study illustrate Law #7 – Cause and Effect Are Not Closely Related in Time and Space?
Where do you find examples of Law #4 – The Easy Way Out Usually Leads Back In?
How does Law #10 – Dividing an Elephant in Half Does Not Produce Two Small Elephants – help explain why persistent unemployment cannot be understood through the work of a single ministry, sector or institution?

Finally, reflect on the study as a whole. Which law do you believe provides the greatest leverage for understanding Botswana’s persistent unemployment? Support your answer by explaining how that law interacts with one or more of the other laws rather than viewing it in isolation.

The objective of this assignment is not simply to identify individual laws. It is to develop the ability to see several Laws of Dynamic Complexity operating together within the same living system. As your understanding deepens, you will discover that persistent national challenges are rarely explained by a single law. Instead, they emerge from the interaction of multiple reinforcing and balancing feedback structures acting over time.

Assignment #14: Discovering That the Laws Already Live Among Us

One of the most important discoveries made during Session 4C was that the Laws of Dynamic Complexity did not begin with Peter Senge. Rather, they have existed throughout human history, embedded within the collective wisdom of societies long before systems thinking gave them formal language and structure.

Communities have preserved this wisdom through stories, parables, proverbs, idioms, cultural sayings, religious teachings, management practices and family narratives. These expressions often describe recurring patterns of behaviour that generations observed but were unable to explain scientifically. Systems thinking now provides us with the language and the conceptual framework to understand why these observations continue to hold true across organisations, communities and nations.

This assignment is intended to help participants discover that the laws are not confined to textbooks. They already surround us. Our task is to learn to recognise them.

Part I: Discovering the Laws in Everyday Life

Identify examples from your own experience that illustrate one or more of the Laws of Dynamic Complexity. Your examples may come from family sayings, cultural proverbs, idioms, parables, religious teachings, workplace experiences, management practices, historical events or national policies.

For each example, explain which law it most closely represents and, more importantly, why. Rather than simply matching a proverb to a law, describe the systemic behaviour taking place. Ask yourself the following questions:

What recurring behaviour is being described?
Which feedback structure might be producing that behaviour?
Why has this observation survived across generations?
What systemic lesson was the community attempting to preserve?

The objective is to begin recognising that systems thinking has always existed in practice, even when it was not described using the language of causal loops, reinforcing feedback or balancing processes.

Part II: Recognising Narratives of Detailed Complexity

Not every familiar saying reflects Dynamic Complexity. Many narratives instead express the assumptions of Detailed Complexity, where problems are understood through direct, linear cause-and-effect relationships.

Identify examples of common sayings, organisational beliefs or management practices that reflect Detailed Complexity rather than Dynamic Complexity. Consider statements such as:

“Someone must be blamed.”
“Today’s problems exist because someone failed to do their job.”
“If it isn’t working, work harder.”
“Faster is always better.”
“The solution must be close to the problem.”

For each example, explain why it reflects linear thinking rather than systems thinking. Then identify which Law of Dynamic Complexity challenges that belief, and explain how the law changes your understanding of the situation.

Part III: Reflecting on Your Own Mental Models

Finally, reflect on your own leadership experience. Which of the Laws of Dynamic Complexity surprised you most? Which one challenged a long-held belief or management practice that you previously accepted without question?

Describe how your own way of thinking has begun to change. Have you found yourself asking different questions? Looking for causes further away from the symptoms? Paying greater attention to Behaviour Over Time? Becoming less interested in assigning blame and more interested in understanding structure?

The purpose of this final reflection is not to test your knowledge of the laws, but to help you recognise that systems thinking begins when our mental models begin to change. The greatest transformation does not occur when we learn another law. It occurs when we begin to see the world differently because of it.

Assignment 15 — The Twelve Emotional Needs

The class began identifying the twelve emotional needs, including care, trust, understanding, and acceptance.

Complete the work by researching and listing the remaining emotional needs, distinguishing them by gender. This is based on the work of Dr Gray and Helen Andelin.

The purpose is not merely to complete a list, but to examine how the needs may connect and reinforce one another.

Assignment 16: Healing Vicious Circles — Systems Thinking and Cultural Wisdom

The Healing Poison story presents a distinctive approach to a vicious reinforcing structure. The uncle does not attempt to break the relationship, separate the people, assign blame, impose rules or eliminate the visible problem. Instead, he works with the structure that already exists, begins with a small action, draws upon a strength already present within the system, applies the action consistently and allows sufficient time for the structure to begin producing a different pattern. (STRLDi)

Your task is to compare this approach with a piece of cultural wisdom. Find a story, proverb, parable, philosophical teaching, religious teaching, traditional practice or other expression of cultural wisdom that addresses a persistent human, relational, community or societal problem.

The question is not whether the cultural wisdom contains a reinforcing loop. The question is whether it contains wisdom about how to live with, change, heal or redirect a persistent cycle.

Explore the comparison

What is the cultural wisdom you have chosen?
Give the story, teaching, proverb or practice sufficient context for someone unfamiliar with it to understand it.
What persistent problem or recurring pattern does it address?
What keeps happening, and what appears to keep the pattern going?
How does the cultural wisdom suggest that the situation should be addressed?
What does the person, family, community or society actually do—or refrain from doing?
Compare this with the uncle’s approach in Healing the Poison.
Where do you see similarities in the two approaches?
Where are they different?
Does the cultural wisdom seek to break the cycle, prevent it, redirect it, heal it, endure it, or transform the people within it?
What does each approach do with the existing structure?
Does it work with what is already present, or does it attempt to replace, remove or control it?
How important are small actions, consistency and time?
Are these visible in the cultural wisdom? If they are not, say so.
Where does the strength for change come from?
Does the wisdom attempt to introduce something external, or does it draw upon a strength already present within the relationship, person, community or system?
What does the comparison teach you about healing vicious circles?
What does the cultural wisdom see that the Healing Poison story does not? Conversely, what does the systems-thinking approach make visible that the cultural wisdom does not explicitly name?
What can systems thinking learn from cultural wisdom—and what can cultural wisdom reveal to systems thinkers?

Examples of cultural wisdom you may explore

You may choose from traditions already introduced in the course, including:

African wisdom — Ubuntu, proverbs, traditional reconciliation practices and community approaches to restoring relationships
Hindu traditions — Karma, Samsara, Dharma and related ideas concerning recurring patterns and their transformation
Buddhist traditions — Dependent Origination and the cycle of suffering
Chinese traditions — Yin-Yang, Daoist principles and the Five Elements
Jain traditions — cycles of decline, renewal and ethical transformation
Shinto — renewal and restoration
Indigenous traditions — the Medicine Wheel, Sacred Hoop and Seven Generations principle
Norse traditions — cycles of destruction and renewal
Sufi traditions — cycles of descent and return
Biblical traditions — sowing and reaping, generational patterns, forgiveness and reconciliation
Quranic traditions — balance, consequences of human action and restoration
Greco-Roman traditions — Stoic cycles and responses to recurring conditions

You may also choose a Botswana proverb, Setswana story, family teaching, traditional practice or other African expression of wisdom that you believe offers a meaningful comparison.

The comparison should leave you with one final question

Have systems thinkers discovered something new—or have human beings been learning how to heal vicious circles for a very long time, using different language?

Use ChatGPT to research and develop your response. Ask it to help you understand the cultural tradition, test your comparison and identify similarities and contrasts. However, do not allow ChatGPT to make the comparison for you. Your task is to examine the two approaches and develop your own conclusion.

The strength of this assignment will lie not in finding a cultural tradition that agrees with systems thinking, but in discovering where the wisdom converges, where it differs, and what each reveals that the other may have overlooked.

Assignment 17 — Laws 7, 8 and 9

Using Laws 7, 8 and 9, determine the area for leverage action in the Urgent File case study.

Do not simply identify an intervention. Show why this area has leverage within the causal structure.

Assignment 18 — The Remaining Laws

Apply the remaining Laws of Dynamic Complexity to the Urgent File case study in writing.

For each Law, show what becomes visible when the Law is applied to the case.

Assignment 19 — The Leverage Point

Imagine that you are the Head of State and have just discovered the leverage point within the causal structure that keeps unemployment persistent.

You now have to decide not simply what should be done, but what must deliberately not be done.

Consider the following:

What would you do — and what would you not do?
What would you say — and what would you deliberately not say?
To whom would you speak — and to whom would you not?
What would you change immediately — and what would you deliberately leave unchanged?
What would you ask others to do — and what would you retain as your own responsibility?
What would you stop doing, even if it were politically or administratively comfortable?
What would you protect from interference because it is part of the leverage?
What would you measure to determine whether the causal structure is actually changing?
What would you watch for to determine whether the old structure is reasserting itself?
What would you do first, knowing that leverage may not produce an immediate visible result?

The discipline

Do not design a programme.

Do not produce a list of conventional unemployment interventions.

Work from the causal structure you have uncovered and the leverage point you believe can influence the whole.

The question is not simply:

“What can government do about unemployment?”

It is:

“Having seen what is keeping unemployment persistent, where can the Head of State act to change the structure itself?”

Assignment 20 — Test the Statement: Does Polygyny Reinforce Itself?

The following statement has been proposed:

“Polygamous systems tend to produce more female offspring than male offspring, thereby reinforcing the practice.”

Do not accept or reject the statement at face value.

Research the question independently using Google Images. Search for images, graphs, charts, or visual evidence that supports, disputes, or complicates the statement.

As you examine the material, consider:

What does each image appear to show?
What population, country, culture, or period does it represent?
Does it actually compare male and female births, or is it showing something else?
Does the evidence support the statement, contradict it, or leave the question unresolved?
What other factors might explain what you are seeing?

Your task

Select at least three images that provide different perspectives on the statement and place them alongside a short written analysis.

Then answer:

Based on the evidence you found, would you retain, modify or reject the original statement? Explain why.

Systems-thinking challenge: Do not stop at asking whether the statement is true. Ask what relationship between population composition, reproductive behaviour and the structure of the social system could cause the practice to reinforce itself over time.

ADVANCED ASSIGNMENT 1 — APPLYING LAW #9

Hypothetical Situation: A National Agricultural Commercialisation Initiative

A national agricultural organisation has been established to help a group of farmers become more commercially successful. The organisation wants farmers to produce consistently, earn better incomes, access reliable markets, improve quality, reduce post-harvest losses and eventually participate in higher-value markets.

After several years, however, the organisation is experiencing a familiar set of difficulties. Production varies considerably from season to season. Farmers do not always plan production together. Buyers are interested but cannot always rely on the volumes or specifications offered. The organisation is considering investing in additional aggregation, storage and distribution capacity while also strengthening farmer participation and seeking larger markets.

Different stakeholders are now advocating different priorities:

Farmers want better and more reliable markets.
Buyers want reliable volumes, quality and delivery.
The organisation wants greater participation and financial sustainability.
Government wants increased agricultural production and employment.
Investors want commercial viability and reduced risk.

The discussion is beginning to sound as though some of these objectives must be sacrificed for others.

Your Task

Apply Law #9: You can have your cake and eat it too—but not at once.

Do not begin by deciding which objective is most important.

Instead:

Identify the legitimate goals of the different actors.
Explain the apparent contradiction between them.
Ask: What is the order of causality through which these goals could reinforce one another?
Construct a sequence showing what must happen first, what follows, and what becomes possible only after the preceding condition exists.
Identify at least one point where an apparently desirable action would be premature because the conditions required for it have not yet been established.
Draw a simple causal structure showing how the sequence could eventually allow several of the goals to be achieved simultaneously.
State what you would investigate before recommending any intervention.

Important

Do not design an organisation or propose a solution.

Your task is to discover the causal order that would make apparently competing objectives capable of reinforcing one another.

Law #9 is not about compromise. It is about discovering the sequence in which legitimate goals can become mutually enabling. STRLDi’s own treatment of the Law describes this explicitly as an order in which causality happens. (STRLDi)

ADVANCED ASSIGNMENT 2 — THE NATIONAL ECONOMIC OPERATING SYSTEM

Read

The STRLDi National Economic Operating System — From Population to Production: Designing Botswana’s Economic Pipeline

Choice 1:

Part A — 200-Word System Summary

Write a maximum 200-word summary of the article.

Your summary must answer:

What problem is the National Economic Operating System designed to address?
What is the fundamental shift in the way the problem is being understood?
What are the major stages or nodes through which people and productive capacity move?
What is the relationship between population, learning, enterprise, demand, production, markets and income?
What is the role of the public system and what is the role of the private productive system?
What does the article mean by building the pipeline before the production?

Part B — Do Not Stop at Description

After your 200-word summary, identify:

The leverage action area

State:

Where, within the system described in the article, would you look for leverage—and why?

Do not simply name a sector such as agriculture, manufacturing or education.

You must identify the relationship or structural point where changing one condition could alter the behaviour of several connected parts of the system.

Explain your reasoning in 150–200 words.

Part C — Trace the Causality

Using the article, construct a causal sequence beginning with:

Population → ______ → ______ → ______ → ______ → productive economic activity

You may add as many stages as necessary.

For each arrow, explain why the preceding condition must exist before the next can function effectively.

Then answer:

Where does the system appear to be trying to begin too far downstream?

This is important because the article explicitly argues that people do not simply enter an economy at the farm gate or factory door. It identifies sequential organisational nodes from couple/family through learning, capability, enterprise and production, before the wider economic flow connects demand, production, markets and income. (STRLDi)

Part D — The Advanced Question

Finally:

If you were responsible for the national system, what would you refuse to build first—and what would you build first instead? Explain the causal reasoning, not the policy preference.

This last question is deliberately difficult. Do not answer by choosing the most urgent problem. Answer by identifying the condition whose existence changes what becomes possible downstream.

Choice 2:

THE LEADERSHIP & POLICY ASSIGNMENT QUESTION

(Formulated to test structural and diagnostic mastery without revealing the core leverage)

STRLDi SYSTEMIC TRANSFORMATION ASSESSMENT

Course/Module: National Economic Systems Engineering & Sovereign Capacity Building
Framework: The STRLDi National Economic Operating System

Assignment Question:
“Conventional economic development frameworks across Africa treat persistent unemployment as a frictional labor-market mismatch or a manual technical skills (TVET) deficit [17, v7]. The STRLDi architecture rejects this, asserting that the primary barrier to economic scaling and corporate enterprise density is a fundamental collapse of organizational and relational ‘glue’ [companion].

Part A: Identifying the Relational Leverage (35% Weighting)

In systems-engineering terms, people do not enter an economy at the farm gate or factory door, but through sequential organization nodes. Identify the specific primary organizational node and the precise relational dynamic that STRLDi establishes as the absolute foundation (‘Node 1’) of this human pipeline [companion].
Explain why this specific relational dynamic acts as the primary leverage action area and cognitive blueprint for building scaled, cooperative corporate enterprises capable of employing 500+ people [companion]. Contrast its cooperative characteristics with the transactional, individualistic limitations of traditional TVET artisan training [v7, companion].

Part B: Macro-Structural Escalation & Sizing (40% Weighting)
Explain how this micro-level relational capacity is scaled, operationalized, and protected at the macro-level through the STRLDi 90:10 National Economic Architecture. Specifically, demonstrate how the “you cannot decide what you cannot see” data principle (Read: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:ugcPost:7493767815062159360/), the 20,000-tonne tomato gap, and the 12-week contracted production window dictate the operational separation of the public and private control loops [73, v7, companion].

Part C: Structural Analysis & Quantitative Proof (25% Weighting)
Utilizing the five-sector GVA, wage, and investment baseline matrices from the STRLDi transformation model, mathematically justify why changing who absorbs the population (the 90:10 workforce split) is bound to fail without a parallel structural transformation of what that population produces.*

ASSIGNMENT 21

Emotional Needs, Self-Perception and Relationship Narratives

An inquiry into what happens when different ways of seeing ourselves and one another meet inside an intimate relationship

Purpose

What happens when the needs, expectations and narratives that two people bring into an intimate relationship interact over time?

This assignment invites you to investigate that question through two bodies of relationship literature and then compare those ideas with the narratives about men, women and relationships that operate in everyday life.

The purpose is not to establish that one author, one set of needs, or one cultural narrative is universally correct. Instead, the exercise is to observe, compare and question what may be happening within the relationship between two adults.

1. Begin with Helen Andelin

Read the relevant sections of Helen B. Andelin’s Fascinating Womanhood.

Andelin presents an idealised view of womanhood that includes femininity, character, inner happiness, the feminine role and the woman’s contribution to the home. Among her themes is the “Domestic Goddess” — the woman’s capacity to create warmth, beauty and emotional peace within the home.

As you read Andelin, ask:

How does the woman see herself?

What does she believe a woman is?

What does she believe she brings into a relationship?

What does she believe her role enables her to create?

Do not simply list Andelin’s ideas. Consider the view of the woman herself that sits beneath them.

2. Then study Dr John Gray

Read the relevant sections of Dr John Gray’s Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus.

Gray identifies twelve emotional needs, six of which he describes as primary for women:

Caring — Understanding — Respect — Devotion — Validation — Reassurance

He identifies six corresponding primary needs for men:

Trust — Acceptance — Appreciation — Admiration — Approval — Encouragement

Gray’s broader proposition is that both men and women need all twelve, even though some needs may be experienced as more important at particular times.

As you read Gray, ask:

How does the woman experience herself within the relationship?

What does she experience when she is cared for, understood, respected, valued and reassured?

And what might she experience when these needs are repeatedly absent?

3. Put the two lenses together

Now compare the two perspectives.

	Helen Andelin	Dr John Gray
Central question	How does the woman see herself?	How does the woman experience the relationship?
Focus	Womanhood, femininity, character, inner happiness, role and contribution	Emotional experience and needs within the relationship
Useful inquiry	What does she believe she is and can bring into being?	What does she experience herself as receiving from the relationship?
Key concept	The Domestic Goddess / womanhood	Caring, Understanding, Respect, Devotion, Validation, Reassurance

Then ask:

Do these two views complement one another, or are there tensions between them?

4. Now bring in the narratives

Identify common narratives about men, women, marriage and relationships in your own society, family, community, media or culture.

A narrative is not necessarily a fact. It may be a widely repeated belief, expectation, saying, social assumption or story about how men and women “should” behave.

You may encounter narratives in families, communities, workplaces, cultural traditions, popular media, social media, literature or everyday conversation.

For each narrative, ask:

Does this narrative align with the emotional need?
Does it grate against the emotional need?
Or does it do both?

Examples to stimulate your inquiry might include:

“A man should always be strong.”
“A woman should be independent.”
“A man should provide.”
“A good woman looks after her home.”
“If someone loves you, they should know what you need.”
“Men do not need emotional reassurance.”
“Women talk too much.”
“A woman should not depend on a man.”
“A man should not need appreciation.”
“A wife should support her husband’s ambitions.”

These are examples only. Find your own.

5. Look at what happens between the two people

Now move beyond the individual narrative.

For each example, ask:

What does the woman believe about herself?

What does the man believe about himself?

What does each believe about the other?

What does each expect from the other?

What emotional need is being met or not met?

What behaviour follows?

And then:

What does the other person experience as a result of that behaviour?

Follow the interaction over time.

You are now looking for the possibility that one person’s behaviour becomes the experience that triggers the other’s response, which then becomes the experience that triggers the first person’s next response.

6. Look for the reinforcing relationship

Ask whether you can find examples where:

Narrative → perception → behaviour → experience of the other → response → reinforcement of the original narrative

Then ask whether the reverse can occur:

Understanding → meeting the other’s need → different response → different experience → stronger relationship → greater capacity to meet the other’s needs

Do not assume that either structure exists.

Look for evidence.

7. The deeper systems-thinking question

Having completed the comparison, consider:

What happens when the way each person sees themselves and the way they understand the other person prevents them from seeing what the other actually needs?

And then:

What happens when each person learns to recognise and meet the other’s different emotional needs?

Finally, consider:

If the quality of an intimate relationship affects household stability, learning, cooperation and the capacity of adults to participate productively in society, what—if anything—might this reveal about relationships between the household and the wider economic system?

Do not assume that a relationship between these things exists. Investigate what the evidence and your reasoning allow you to say.

8. Your submission

Prepare:

A brief summary of the relevant ideas from Helen Andelin.
A brief summary of the relevant ideas from Dr John Gray.
A comparison of how the woman sees herself and how she experiences herself within the relationship.
At least six common relationship narratives identified through your research.
A comparison showing where those narratives align with or grate against the emotional needs.
At least one reinforcing relationship you can identify from your analysis.
Your response to the final systems-thinking question.

Reference your sources

When presenting an idea from Andelin or Gray, identify where it comes from. When presenting a social narrative, identify where you encountered it or provide an example of its use.

Clearly distinguish between:

the author’s proposition → your observation → your interpretation.

The Challenge

Do not turn this into an exercise in deciding whether Andelin, Gray or the narratives are “correct.”

The purpose is to learn to see.

We are examining what people believe, what they pay attention to, what they experience, how they respond to one another, and how those responses may become a structure that reinforces itself over time.

What can you see when you place these ideas alongside one another?

What aligns?

What grates?

What is missing?

What behaviours might follow?

And, most importantly:

What relationship might develop between those behaviours over time?

This assignment forms part of the Institute’s continuing exploration of leverage within the unemployment causal structure. The objective is not to prescribe how relationships should work, but to develop the capacity to see relationships as systems and to examine whether changes within them can have consequences beyond the relationship itself.

Required Reading

Helen B. Andelin, Fascinating Womanhood
Read the relevant sections on womanhood, feminine nature, feminine role, inner happiness, character and the “Domestic Goddess.”
Open Library — Fascinating Womanhood

Dr John Gray, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus
Pay particular attention to “Discovering Our Different Emotional Needs” and the discussion of the different emotional needs of men and women.
Google Books — Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus

ASSIGNMENT 22: DERIVING THE KEY ECONOMIC FORMULAS

The team is required to work through the key economic concepts that STRLDi members must understand in order to read an economy as a system rather than as a collection of disconnected numbers.

The assignment will progressively move from:

Population → Labour → Productivity → Organisations → Capital → Investment → Demand → Supply → Markets → Value Chains → Trade → Enterprise Density → Corridors → Bottlenecks → Throughput → Reinvestment → National Economic Architecture.

For each assigned concept, the team must determine the formula or quantitative relationship in full, identify and define every variable, state the units of measurement, explain what the relationship measures, apply it using appropriate data, show the complete calculation, and explain what the resulting number tells us about the economic system.

The work must distinguish clearly between observed data, assumptions, derived numbers and scenario numbers. No number should appear without establishing where it came from and what it means.

The assignment is not about producing numbers that look correct. It is about developing the ability to ask:

Where did this number come from? What does it mean? What does it require elsewhere in the system? And what happens if it changes?

Detailed Assignment Framework

The complete list of concepts, their sequence, definitions, relationships, learning requirements and STRLDi relevance is provided here:

What STRLDi members must know about Economics

Read the paper before beginning the assignment. The sequence is deliberate. Do not treat the concepts as independent economic definitions; follow the progression and learn to see the relationships between them.

The Standard

Do not be afraid to get the calculation wrong. Be afraid of not understanding why it is wrong.

Every correction should sharpen the mind.

The final objective is for each STRLDi member to become sufficiently economically literate to interrogate a national number, trace its relationship through the system, and recognise what the system must do in response.