Systems Thinking = Positive Change

I have started Space for Play, an organizational problem solving consultancy that focuses on solving with systems.

Space for Play on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spaceforplay

Go to the website and get your free clarity tool!
Http://www.spaceforplay.com

I see one of the fundamental problems that we face as a populace to be a lack of skill in systems thinking.  Systems thinking is just the idea of thinking in terms of systems, learning how systems work and how systems interact with other systems and, critically, how to take systems apart and put them back together while making them better than before.  In the United States, many of us feel helpless in the face of the systems we interact with, of which we have an imperfect understanding and which we feel powerless to change in any meaningful way. 

This is the challenge I am undertaking, and I am approaching it through social entrepreneurship.  

Systems thinking is inherently applicable to solving challenges in business.  Restructuring a business, planning a marketing campaign, reorganizing an office space, launching a new product, identifying the kinks in productivity....all of these are examples of problems in organizations that can be addressed via systems thinking.   By consulting with businesses to solve their challenges using systems, I can spread systems thinking techniques while simultaneously funding projects to bring systems thinking to disenfranchised youth, empowering them to re-shape their world and giving them vital skills for the future they will be inhabiting.

Thanks to generous donors, I am in business!  Space for Play is picking up steam and collecting client leads, and needs support to keep building momentum.  

The Space for Play Approach
My new company runs workshops for organizations, collaboratively working with them to create pen and paper simulations as a way to examine and solve whatever challenges they are facing in their group.  The process forces them to carefully examine their systems, get the concrete facts about how they are _actually_ working, and come to a consensus about what is happening.  Once the model is created, it can be further used as a tool to explore how changes in the systems might affect the problem at hand.  As part of solving these challenges, the team members involved will be exposed to systems thinking principles.  

As an example, I co-created a physical simulation with a lady at a workshop event in Santa Cruz.  This woman was just getting rolling with her own coaching business, but was having trouble imagining how all the different products she was offering could best fit together in order to assure that she was making the money she needed.  We created a model where a game board was divided into 12 spaces, each space representing a month.  Every "turn" was one month long.  We created resource pools for her of money, time, energy and reputation.  We defined all her products in terms of these resource pools, and also in terms of how many people each product could serve at a time.  We created rules: She regained energy at a steady rate, running out of energy would limit what things she could do (but she could take a month off to regain a bunch of it), there was a limited amount of time available in each month, her reputation modified other actions (for example, the higher her reputation the more likely her speaking engagements would attract more people).  And, because sh*t happens, we added a deck of cards to represent random events, both good and bad, from which she drew once/month.  While creating the model, she was forced to very carefully analyze the services she was offering, the most efficient way they could mix and match to meet her financial goals, and really her whole lifestyle.  At the end of our session she was beaming, and expressed to me how much new clarity the session had given her.  She planned on hanging the board on her wall and revisiting the model everytime she was feeling stuck in her business.

The other part of the plan is that, when Space for Play is financially stable (or stable enough), part of all money earned will go towards a fund that allows me to offer similar workshops to groups of underpriveleged teens and non-profit groups.

The deal is, I don't want to just start a company.  Over time I am hoping to evolve this into a movement.

Yeah, I know.  Sometimes I sound crazy, even to myself.  But I am dead serious.  I truly believe that systems thinking education is the best possible way that I personally can contribute to the betterment of this planet.  I also believe that I can make this contribution while my family and I thrive financially.  

So if (and only if) it is not a burden to you, I am humbly requesting financial support to get going.   My family is scraping by while I get this off the ground and finding money for business expenses has been tricky.  

Thanks to generous donations, I have so far been able to afford to pay my lawyer, filed for a fictitious business name (DBA in California), printed a first run of business cards, transported myself to multiple networking events and face to face meetings and so far paid for business coaching.   I've also recieved donations of beautiful business card designs and professional photography.

Currently I am in need of a new run of business cards, some other marketing materials and a couple tools to help me put together my Space for Play kits in a professional manner.  I would also love to raise enough to afford some web-site and marketing assistance.

Also - if this is exciting to you and you want to help in a different (non-monetary) way, I'd love to hear from you.  In particular (at the moment) suggestions for or introductions to potential clients to add to my potential clients list would be fantastic.  I would LOVE some website assistance too.  I'd be stoked to hear other ideas as well.  

I'd love to hear any and all questions and thoughts about this campaign, my business ideas, or how this fits into my greater life plan.  

I really cannot say enough how much I appreciate you for even looking at this campaign.  If you've read all these words, then thank you for sharing my vision with me.  Even if you can't (or don't want to, that's cool) kick in, just having you knowing what I'm up to and how important it is to me helps it take steps towards reality.  

Love, love, love
Heather



Thank you!!


Learn more about Briana Cavanaugh's work at Infinitely Possible !

Heather's headshot by the brilliant Emily Avila of The Absolute Photography.

Michael E. Taylor,  Attorney at Law and all around amazing guy can be found online here.

Thanks so much to Kathy Shireman-King for donating her awesome business card design skills!  She is so good she doesn't even NEED a web-site, as all her work is word-of-mouth.  If you want to talk to her about working with you, let me know and I'll put you in touch.