Systems Thinking World Group Rules

From SystemsWiki

While LinkedIn refers to the link on the discussions tab as Group Rules they're actually more a set of guidelines for the interactions among the participants of the group. With regard to Systems Thinking World the group was established with the following premise and purpose.

Premise: We believe a systemic perspective provides the best foundation for creating effective approaches for dealing with challenges and shaping a better tomorrow.

Purpose: Create content and foster interactions which further understanding of the value of a systemic perspective and enables thinking and acting systemically.

Within this context the following guideline has been established for approving new posts for the group. Much of the decision for the follow was guided by the fact that Systems Thinking World is an open group and all posts to the main group are visible to the entire internet and indexed by most of the search engines.

• Discussions
  • Should begin with a well formed short question on the first line.
  • It is a basis for a discussion and by at least some stretch could it be perceived as having a systems aspect.
  • The rationale for the first line being a short question is that after the initial post the first line is all others have to see in their email to remind them what the discussion was intended to be about.
  • If it isn't a basis for a discussion it may qualify as a promotion
• Promotions
  • Something that might be considered of interest to a Systems Thinking community. This might be an article, an organizational function, a meeting, seminars, webinars, etc.
  • Posts which simply look like an attempt to drive traffic to a web site blog get deleted.
  • If it doesn't qualify as a Promotion it ends up in the bit bucket.
• Jobs
  • There is no longer a Jobs tab in Systems Thinking World. The majority of the posts which might on the surface look like jobs posts were actually just attempts to prey on the current situation of job seekers.

Posts. All new submissions to the main group are moderated. Once a Discussion, or Promotion, has been approved members may post to them without moderation. Any post receiving two inappropriate flags by participants will be automatically deleted by LinkedIn.

Membership Requests. Requests to join Systems Thinking World are reviewed in an attempt to ensure the group is not invaded by spammers. As such there are certain restrictions placed on new members to the group and new members of LinkedIn for a period of time.

Fantasy. I had a fantasy once upon a time that the initiator of a discussion would actually take ownership for the discussion and attempt to keep it on track and nurture it along. After a while I finally came to my senses and realized I was living in la la land and gave up on this one.

Unmoderated Subgroup. If you have something you really feel needs to be posted your alternate recourse is to post it to the Unmoderated Subgroup within Systems Thinking World. It is just what the title suggests, a completely unmoderated area where anything goes. This is a closed subgroup and the contents are only visible to members of the subgroup. Enter at your own risk. I won't even go there and look at for fear of what I might find.

Creative Commons. Posts by members of the Systems Thinking World group are considered to be “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike” (CC BY-NC-SA). This license lets other remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms. Additional detail regarding this Creative Commons license may be found at (http://bit.ly/wkgfgw).

This I Believe

The following is the initial post for the This I Believe discussion at Systems Thinking World on LinkedIn.

I initiated Systems Thinking World under the following premise:

We believe a systemic perspective provides the best foundation for creating effective approaches for dealing with challenges and shaping a better tomorrow. Our purpose is to create content and foster interactions which furthers understanding of a systemic perspective and enables thinking and acting systemically. To "Enable a Systems Thinking World."

I wanted this discussion group to be the support mechanism that was missing during my initial 35+ year quest for understanding. I though that it would be marvelous if those who shared my passion for Systems Thinking could share their learning and support the learning and development of others and possibly compress the learning cycle. And I still want it to be all those things.

My message to those who seem to be a legend in their own mind, are continually intent on demonstrating that they think they're the smartest person on the planet, and simply must create meteoric posts that crash into discussions adding no value that anyone can fathom, your days are numbered.

I encourage members of this group to flag posts that they consider inappropriate to the particular discussion they appear in so the posts can be reviewed by the group managers and deleted if they concur. If the negative value added continues and individual's posts will first be moderated and the individual subsequently blocked and deleted if needs be.

Please join with me in an endeavor to develop a community that continually strives to learn how to learn together for the continued development of our collective future.

Gene Bellinger

Host Systems Thinking World

April 12, 2012

References

• Discussion Types from Case Western Reserve UCITE
• Group Roles Comparison Table
• Facilitation, Coaching, Mentoring, and Training: Understanding the Differences from International Association of Facilitators

Additional Resources Systems Thinking World Discussions Systems Thinking World Q&A * Gene Bellinger