Discover the power of group system mapping for nonprofit leaders. Learn how mapping aids in problem-solving, fosters ownership, and boosts creative solutions. Here’s a high-level overview of the process to help you enhance decision-making in your nonprofit.

Unlock the power of systems mapping in our latest guide for nonprofit leaders. Learn about feedback loops, their role in problem-solving, and their impact on team dynamics. This post offers nonprofit leaders a new way to manage complex challenges.

We call some emergent properties good because we wanted them, expected them, or they create benefits. And we call some bad because we didn’t want or expect them, or they create harms. But from the perspective of the system (project, team, org, etc.), the outcomes that we call good or bad simply emerge from the unique structure and form of the system.

Internal complexity is necessary, but the least amount required to absorb the complexity in your chosen mission environment. Too little internal complexity and you’re ineffective. Too much and you’re irrelevant.

The Theory of Constraints is a management framework that says the overall performance of a system (e.g. an organization) is limited by its weakest part. So don’t waste resources obsessively optimizing other parts of the system until the primary constraint is addressed.

Here are four ways that success can lead to new challenges for your nonprofit organization. It’s important for nonprofit leaders to create adaptive, resilient teams and strategies.

Purpose is one of the most powerful forces driving organizational outcomes.

Today’s problems are often the consequences of yesterday’s solutions. Seemingly obvious improvements to complex systems can have vicious, unpredictable effects. Here are three tips for nonprofit leaders to help you avoid unintended long-term consequences.

A system is anything with parts that interrelate to accomplish something. It’s not pointless to improve the parts. But the performance of a system is determined by how its components interact. So fixing the connections has a much bigger impact on system behavior.