A field guide to
systems thinking
Practical concepts for people who work in organisations. How things connect, why they behave the way they do, and where to find the leverage for change.
Core building blocks
2 conceptsThe fundamental components that make up any system. Learn these and everything else builds on top.
System behaviours and patterns
3 conceptsWhat systems actually do over time - the shapes you see when you step back far enough.
Emergence
When the whole does something none of the parts could do alone - behaviour that arises from interactions, not instructions.
Exponential Growth
When something grows by a percentage rather than an amount - it feels slow until it suddenly feels unstoppable.
Unintended Consequences
Every intervention in a system produces effects you didn't plan for - sometimes bigger than the ones you did.
Systems archetypes
2 conceptsRecurring patterns that show up across wildly different systems. Once you can name them, you start seeing them everywhere.
Coming soon
Leverage and intervention
Where and how to intervene in a system to create change that sticks.
Complexity and uncertainty
The terrain where traditional planning breaks down and different approaches are needed.
Mental models and ways of seeing
How we think about systems - and the tools that help us see them more clearly.
Resilience, adaptation, and change
How systems survive, adapt, and sometimes transform into something entirely new.
Boundaries, perspectives, and power
Who gets to define the system, what's included, and whose interests are served.
Organisational and social systems
Systems thinking applied to the world of work, institutions, and collective action.
Measurement, signals, and sense
How we know what's happening in a system - and how measurement itself changes what happens.
Design and intervention approaches
Practical frameworks for working with systems, not against them.
Natural and ecological metaphors
Concepts from ecology and biology that illuminate how all systems work.
Human dimensions
The psychological and cognitive aspects of working with - or against - systems.
Connection map
7 concepts across 13 themes
This is a living resource
Fieldmarks is growing every week. New concepts, new connections, new themes. It's built by Mutomorro as a free, open resource for anyone who wants to understand how things really work - and where to find the leverage for change.
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