SYSTEM THINKING TRAINING: SELF DEVELOPMENT

Author: Debby Josephine

On February the 13, 2016, KAIL held a training of System Thinking with the theme Self Development, at KAIL House, Kampung Cigarugak, village Giri Mekar, district Cilengkrang, regency Bandung. The training was attended by 19 trainees from various organizations, high schools, universities, and individuals from Bandung and Jakarta as well as 4 of KAIL staff who accompanied the participants. The event was opened with introduction about KAIL by Deta and continued with the training material System Thinking by Agustein and Melly.

The training aimed to provide insights to the participants that the problems in this world are connected to each other to form a complex tangle of relationships. This included introducing System Thinking to the participants that can support their personal development in dealing with the social and environment issues and in seeking solution, by taking into account the impact on long term basis.

Visioning

The approach of the training was to envision the participants own personal vision and mission for the next 5 years. Then the training continued with the introduction of a variety of methodologies and tools that are used in System Thinking, namely: Behavior Over Time diagram (BOT), Causal Loop Diagrams (CLD) and Leverage Points. Participants were given the opportunity to practice these tools according to their condition.

Living Loop

Overall the training process went smoothly. The participants asked questions and discussed very actively, we felt that the time was far from enough to accommodate opinions of all participants. They were also eager and able to follow the entire chain of events until late afternoon. In addition to learning in classroom, the participants were also invited to understand about Thinking System through a variety of games and simulations. With this interactive learning, participants were expected to perceive and to understand the complexity of the issues better.

The training lasted for one day and hosted alternately by KAIL staff; Agustein Okamita, Deta Ratna Kristanti, Melly Amalia, and Any Sulistyowati.

Translated by: Bernadetta Tarigan