By the end of this course, you will have a greater understanding of being a systems practitioner having to deal with complexity.
But what makes it possible to say, I understand something about the world in which I live? What is it that we would need to
have observed in others or in ourselves for us to say that understanding systems practice had occurred?
In the language of this cartoon, I'm asking you to envisage the general idea of a practitioner as someone who engages with
some messy real-world situation using selected approaches. Systems practice, modelled in this next cartoon, is a particular
form of the general model of practice shown in the first cartoon. An effective systems practitioner is able to use systems
approaches in managing complexity in the context of a perceived real-world situation.
I'm not overly concerned with other approaches to practice and will not be making any extravagant claims that a systems approach
is better than other forms of practice. I will, however, develop arguments that enable me to make two claims-- firstly, systems
practice has particular characteristics that make it qualitatively different to other forms of practice; and secondly, an
effective systems practitioner can call on a greater variety of options for doing something about complex real-world situations
than other practitioners do. These are important claims. They will structure most of the arguments made in the rest of the
course, as you'll begin to explore this week.