Leading Systems Change: Systems Thinking for a Sustainable World National Taiwan University
Course Overview
This special intensive course is designed for aspiring change leaders in business, government and civil society who want to create systemic change and lasting impact in the world. It is adopted from MIT Sloan School of Management’s executive education designed for high impact leaders, and is based on the professor's real world consulting experience with clients such as the World Bank, Walton Family Foundation, Nike and Sustainable Apparel Coalition.
Learning Achievement
This course will help you understand what systems thinking is and how it can empower you to become an effective change leader for creating a sustainable world. We will learn about the principles and tools of systems thinking and how to apply them to problem solving, decision making, strategic planning and partnership building for creating systemic change. Specifically, we will learn a set of tools that enable you to (1) graphically depict your understanding of a complex social system's behavior and its underlying structure, (2) communicate with others about your understanding explicitly to form a shared understanding, and (3) design high-leverage interventions to address root causes of a complex challenge. These tools include causal loop diagrams, behavior-over-time graphs, stock-and-flow diagrams, system archetypes and systems mapping—all of which let you depict your understanding of a system—to computer simulation models and “management flight simulators," which help you to test the potential impact of your interventions. We will also introduce other change framework and tools such as shared vision, mental model, dialogue, facilitation, team learning and Theory U to make you an effective change leader. Another (implicit) objective is to create a learning community so you can learn from your peers from different disciplines, develop friendships and form potential partnerships for leading systems change in Taiwan and the world. Whether you choose to become a social entrepreneur, a corporate sustainability officer, a management consultant, a policy maker, a politian, a social activist, a NGO leader, a foundation manager or an academic, these tools and consulting methods shall make you an attractive job candidate.
Competence
Course prerequisites
Grading Philosophy
Course schedule
Course type
Online Course Requirement
Instructor
JOE CHIAO-JEN HSUEH
