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- Managing Complexity: A Systems Approach
Managing Complexity: A Systems Approach

Do you need to change the way you think when faced with a complex situation? Managing Complexity: A Systems Approach, is a free course that examines how systemic thinking and practice enables you to cope with the connections between things, events and ideas. By taking a broader perspective complexity becomes manageable and it is easier to accept that gaps in knowledge can be acceptable.
Course learning outcomes
After studying this course, you should be able to:
- reflect on personal purposes and expectations of doing this course
- record personal initial and developing understandings of what the course is about
- keep an on-going record of these developing understandings, expectations and experiences
- use a Learning Journal to record any reflections
- take responsibility for these reflections.
First Published: 16/08/2012
Updated: 16/05/2016
You can start this course right now without signing-up. Click on any of the course content sections below to start at any point in this course.
If you want to be able to track your progress, earn a free Statement of Participation, and access all course quizzes and activities, sign-up.
Course content
- Introduction
- Learning outcomes
- 1 Managing complex systems
- 2 Preparing to tackle this unit
- 3 Understanding systems approaches to managing complexity
- 4 Systems practice – unpacking the juggler metaphor
- 5 Being a systems practitioner
- 5 Being a systems practitioner
- 5.1 The state of ‘Being’
- 5.2 Being aware of the constraints and possibilities of the observer
- 5.3 Appreciating your basis for understanding
- 5.4 Experience – making distinctions based on a tradition and constructing a history
- 5.5 Distinctions about systems practice
- 5.6 Learning and effective action
- 5.7 Being ethical
- 5.8 Reviewing some implications for systems practice
- 6 Engaging with complexity
- Activity answers
- Conclusion
- Keep on learning
- References
- Acknowledgements
Your course resources
As you work through this course you will need various resources to help you complete some of the activities.
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About this free course
20 hours study
Level 3: Advanced
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