Reflections on Systems Thinking Systems Practice - 2026 Conference

I had the incredible opportunity to attend and present at the Systems Thinking Systems Practice Conference that took place at the University of Hull in UK.

It was an incredible learning experience and it was inspiring to see the level of interest and adoption of systems thinking by people from so many diverse fields - healthcare, construction, public services, cybersecurity and more.

The keynote sessions were insightful and the hallway conversations enriching. It was amazing to see and listen from some of the leading thinkers/doers in their space IRL - Dr Mike C Jackson, John Seddon, John Kay, Patrick Hoverstadt, Dave Snowden and more.

Here are some of my reflections from the conference…

I’ve attended many cybersecurity conferences in different locations/countries over the past 25 years. But, this is my first Systems Thinking conference. I was jittery as a June bug.

But, once I was there, it felt like I was back in Tamil Nadu, where I could speak my mother tongue, Tamil. People understood the lingo and terminology. The conversations were penetrating and deep.

Having said that, I’m also reminded of how the language of marketing is often compared to the language of astrology. When marketing jargon is spoken to a “fellow believer”, it sounds fine, but to anybody else, it sounds like the ramblings of a “nut job”.

While there are often arguments and criticisms between the different schools of thought within the communities of systems thinking, complexity and cybernetics, this conference was a breath of fresh air.

It was very welcoming of a variety of ideas presented and discussed from systems dynamics, cybernetics, VSM, SSM, CST, complexity science, etc. People listened deeply and were open to stand corrected or see the nuance of the other side.

I’m inspired by the approach and will embrace the same for my podcast - inviting views from the various traditions and disciplines. I hope to synthesize the partial truths from different contexts and work towards unification rather than fracturing the communities.

That was the title of my presentation. I wanted to present my ideas to the systems thinking community and gather feedback before I presented them at a cybersecurity conference. The feedback was valuable and encouraging.

My presentation advocated for taking a systems thinking approach to cybersecurity, moving beyond whack-a-mole fixes toward the dissolution of problems. By transitioning from a mechanistic security approach to a viable security model, organizations can replace rigid compliance with adaptive feedback loops and relational ecosystems. A case study around vulnerability management and another one about the transition from passwords to passkey were discussed.

To me, the highlight of the show was the Annual Mike Jackson Lecture by Sir John Kay titled “The Evolution of Management”.

In his insightful lecture, John Kay traced the evolution of management from a dedicated public and private profession into a controversial, profit-driven pursuit. Historically, organizations ranging from 19th-century railways and the professional civil service to 20th-century giants like General Motors and IBM cultivated career managers who viewed their positions as profound social responsibilities. However, a philosophical shift occurred around 1970, fueled by Milton Friedman’s ideology and the shareholder value movement, which transformed the role of the CEO from a steady responsibility into a highly compensated "prize".

This myopic focus on maximizing shareholder wealth led to the decline of once-great industrial pillars like ICI and Boeing, and caused public sectors like water and banking to replace competent professional management with fragile regulatory frameworks that ultimately failed. To restore the legitimacy of business, Kay argued that we must rebuild management as a genuine profession grounded in an established academic body of knowledge, a period of practical apprenticeship, and a distinct ethical code.

During the Q&A, he explored the pathway to resurrecting this lost professionalism, leaning heavily on his concept of "obliquity" - the idea that complex goals are best achieved indirectly by focusing on building great products, strong engineering, and cohesive teams rather than chasing profit targets. Because managers operate in a world of "radical uncertainty" where static models cannot perfectly predict real-world outcomes, they must instead use models to challenge assumptions and build convincing narratives to guide decision-making.

Ultimately, a crucial element of this transformation falls on universities and business schools. Rather than marketing superficial "leadership" to ambitious students, business schools must establish rigorous intellectual credibility.

I’ll wrap today’s post with a thought-provoking discussion I had with Karthik Suresh.

Karthik’s description of the fantasy world of Terry Pratchett hit me hard - he discussed how Wizards, when given too much power, end up hurling curses at each other from tall towers! I’ll leave you to connect the dots in your own context.

Matt Lloyd originally mentioned on my podcast that Terry Pratchett is one of the best systems thinkers he knows. But, I appreciate that now much more! I’ve already ordered a couple of his books from the series to get started.

That’s it for this week. Keep an eye out next week for a sneak preview of a special chapter from Harish Jose’s upcoming book (Working Title: For Us).