We are thrilled to share that Anna’s TEDx talk, “Looking at sustainability through a systems lens changes everything” is now available for viewing.
This journey has been challenging on many levels, but also incredibly rewarding, and she’s
eager to spread the message that if we embrace systems thinking about sustainability, we
(as a society) have a better chance of achieving it.
In this talk, Anna delves into how most often we use linear cause-and-effect relationships to
explain the challenge in front of us and a “trade-offs” approach in trying to solve it. Instead,
we must develop the competency of seeing and sensing sustainability challenges from the
systems perspective. And that means recognizing the interdependencies between the
systems and their stakeholders and the intricate web of relationships that exists between
them. Achieving sustainable development is about creating synergetic benefits, which
requires us to develop a holistic understanding of the complexity surrounding the challenges
and to learn how to work with complexity instead of breaking it into parts and addressing it
piece by piece. We need to move away from alleviating the symptoms towards systems
change that allows effective, long-term solutions.
How to do this? Well, that’s not an easy quest. But it’s not too late to start and it’s worth it!
It is a topic close to her heart because she believes that once you start seeing from the systems perspective, it will change everything!
Here are a few questions to ask yourself when you are trying to address a sustainability
challenge:
- What am I missing from this picture?
- Whose voices are not heard, but important?
- What are the relationships between different groups (of stakeholders)?
- What is the goal of the system that produces the results you are observing?
Please leave your comments on the YouTube channel.
“I want to express my gratitude to the amazing team at #TEDxESSECAsiaPacific for this
incredible opportunity. Special thanks to Julien Salanave, the ESSEC Asia Pacific Business
School team and Winston Liew, who made this journey unforgettable.”
Let’s keep the conversation going! What resonated with you? Feel free to pass it along if you think someone else might find it valuable.
