grassroots

We have to be honest

With ourselves

For beneath the surface

Of the events and the issues we focus on

The symptoms

And beneath the patterns

And the structures 

That impede

The objects and the rituals 

The institutions and their policies

Beneath the abstractions and the subsequent reductions

Lies us

And our beliefs

Attitudes

Our morals

Values

Conventions

Conditioning

Our expectations

Our egos

We are the roots

The root cause

And in that context we are also the keys

To the solutions.

For

I scribbled it down moments before a lecture which touched on systems thinking, design thinking and deep dives in relation to a ‘future design’ task.

Image

‘Systms’ 2022. Letraset typeface transfer on road reflector.

Bibliography

Hotton. V. 2022. ‘The Iceberg Model Of Systems Thinking’. Dumbo Feather. Issue 69. Systems Change. p. 30-31.

Krznaric, R. 2021. ‘The Good Ancestor – How to Think Long Term in a Short-Term World’. Random House. UK.

Watts, A. 1957. ‘The Way of Zen’. Pantheon Books Inc. New York.

Footnote

“When you say the music is abominable, listen to the sound of your own complaint”. Alan Watts. ‘In My Own Way’. New World Library. 2007. p 365.