Systemic Change

You can click the buttons below for access to the recording of the information webinar I hosted on 29 May 2026, and download a free copy of the diagnostic we develop during the session, as well as the business case for the program.

What value does a complexity approach add to sustainability practice?

A living systems or complexity approach adds real value to sustainability practice because it helps us work with reality as it is, not as we wish it were. The challenges we are facing are not simple, linear problems. They are dynamic, interconnected and constantly changing, which means the old “plan, control, implement” model often falls short.

One of the most important shifts this approach offers is a reframing of tiredness, frustration and burnout. These are not signs of personal failure. They are signals. They tell us that the tools, assumptions and methods we are using may no longer fit the complexity of the challenge in front of us. In that sense, fatigue can be a useful piece of data: an invitation to update our toolkit rather than blame ourselves.

A living systems lens also helps practitioners see that change happens across culture, structure and personal behaviour together. It encourages us to work more strategically with relationships, power, patterns and context, rather than relying only on expertise or isolated interventions. It supports learning, adaptation, collaboration and safe-to-fail experimentation, so we can respond more intelligently to uncertainty.

Just as importantly, it makes sustainability work more humane. It acknowledges that people are part of the system too, and that effective change depends on self-awareness, wellbeing and care. In short, a living systems approach helps sustainability practice become more effective at delivering, and more integrated and more sustainable for the people involved.

What are the important principles of complexity to apply in sustainability?

Shifting the lens through which we understand sustainability work is difficult for many of us, especially when we have been socialised into mechanistic, linear ways of thinking that assume predictability, control and expert-led solutions. This is one reason many organisations are structured the way they are, and why project management approaches often dominate even when the challenges we face are clearly more complex.

A more useful starting point is to recognise that sustainability and climate issues are part of living systems: people, organisations and environments are interconnected, adaptive and constantly changing. In this view, change is not something we simply deliver to a system. It emerges through relationships, culture, structure and personal behaviour interacting over time.

Fundamentally the most important behaviour of complex adaptive systems to recognise and act upon are:

• They are interdependent, with nested relationships across smaller and larger systems, so effects move through time and across contexts.

• They are dynamic and sensitive to context, meaning small shifts can have significant consequences.

• They are self-organising and self-regulating rather than fully controlled from outside.

• They involve indirect, non-linear cause and effect, so linear planning is often insufficient.

• They are inherently uncertain, which means there is always an element of unpredictability.

• They are shaped by their identity, values and purpose, not just by external inputs.

This means that important principles to apply in your leadership include:

• Treat learning and adaptation as ongoing, not as a one-off response.

• Accept uncertainty as normal and focus on influence rather than control.

• Support self-organisation by broadening participation and sharing responsibility for the health of the system.

• Pay attention to culture, structure and personal patterns together, not in isolation.

• Create conditions where coherence, experimentation, reflection and peer support can emerge.

• Hold space for diversity, connection and safe-to-fail experimentation, because new possibilities often arise there.

How is this program different?

This is not a generic leadership course.

It is designed specifically for sustainability and climate practitioners who want:

• real-world application

• honest reflection

• peer learning

• tools that fit complexity

• support for difficult working conditions

• a more regenerative way of contributing

You will be invited to work on a real workplace challenge throughout the program, so the learning is immediately relevant.

Is this program the right fit for you?

If you find yourself asking the following types of questions - the answer is “yes”:

• Why do the same problems keep returning?

• How can my team and I be even more effective with our time and energy?

• How do I engage others in deep change?

• How do I make progress without burning out?

• How do I work more strategically in a complex system?

• How do I stay effective in a culture that doesn’t seem to fully support this work?

Not sure yet? View the webinar session.

You can click the button below for access to the recording of the information webinar I hosted on 29 May 2026, and download a free copy of the diagnostic we develop during the session. You’ll hear more about:

• the program content

• the approach and learning design

• who it is for

• the kinds of challenges it can help with

• why it may be valuable for aligned sustainability and climate practitioners