DEVELOPING ADVANCED SYSTEMS THINKING Evolutionary Design as a Means for Developing Ourselves and Our Society

We were thinking differently. PYC’s boundaries were clearly defined by the purposes rather than by the hierarchical structures of the organization. We saw how we were an embedded part of the community and yet leaders within it. PYC shifted from running from structure to function to carrying out purposes to running from purpose, then carrying out functions which resulted in a structure. No longer were we trying to “fix” people or community; we were imagining new ways of living and then designing ways to bring the images to life. Positive feedback as a means for development replaced the negative feedback
processes which were the means for maintaining order.

Through the process of evolutionary design and of “swarming” toward collectively-held purposes, we had shifted from a mechanically-oriented, problem-oriented approach to an ethically-oriented, upbeat, possibilities-oriented approach. I began to observe and ask what was going on within design to have such a profound effect on us, the participants in the design process. Drawing on developmental psychology, counseling psychology, and education, I identified the following practices.