Passage to India

This is a short article I wrote which was published in the Operational Research Society's journal "Inside OR":

University of Hull PhD student, Kerry Turner, has recently returned from Bangalore, India, where she taught a group of gifted and talented children (aged 12 to 15 years) about systems thinking. The course was entitled Systems Thinking: A Powerful Approach to Problem Solving. It was organised by Genwise .

Across five days, the children experienced games and role play. They learned about the theory and practice of systems thinking and built simulation models to understand the behavior of complex systems. The children learned that all systems are complex when the full consequences of a choice are considered. For details of the course content see Genwise Course Curriculum.

# A Passage to India In June 2019 I had the privilege to visit Bangalore, India, to teach a group of 12-15 year old children about systems thinking. I’ve trained many adult business people and consultants, but this was my first experience with children.

The course examined a variety of systemic issues, ranging from the impact of an untreated verruca on a foot(!), to an initiative in Bangalore to clean up the city (see The Ugly Indian .) They considered big global issues such as species extinction, Climate Change and war. They experienced creating and participating in systems themselves through games (see Tragedy and Trust.)

The children were encouraged to pass on their new skills to their families, friends and schools. Kerry argues that passing on systems thinking skills is absolutely necessary if we are to tackle the many complex problems we face globally.

Kerry’s PhD is evaluating the potential of systems thinking in education. Next, she will be working in Hull as she has recently won a grant from the Ferens Education Trust to create a systems thinking experience for primary school children in disadvantaged areas of Hull. Kerry catalyzed this initiative as a collaboration between the Ferens Trust, the University of Hull, the Hull & East Yorkshire Children’s University and local business, Rix. Kerry aims to extend this initiative across the UK via the network of children’s universities.

Kerry is passionate about sharing the systems view of life with all children. She acquired her skills in systems thinking during her career as a management consultant spanning over 30 years. She has applied it to a wide range of business problems for organisations around the world. For the last decade she has applied systems thinking to every aspect of her life including horsemanship, swimming, relationships, home economics and health. Her book, “Riding Dynamics”, explores the potential for a horse and rider to become a truly unified system.

YOUTUBE wd6cckLAD_0 Hear from the course facilitator, Kerry Turner.

YOUTUBE GUKTQPjjnJA An exercise to identify variables in documents

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