A letter from Dr. Peter Senge

It is with a great sense of honor and obligation that I have accepted the offer to join the HPS Advisory Board. I still feel the loss of my dear friend, Barry Richmond, who many of you knew as one of the great thought leaders in the field of Systems Thinking. For me, Barry was a unique spirit of innovation and commitment whose genius will not be easily replaced. At his memorial service in August, 2002, I told the audience that it was now our task to make sure that the work of Barry continues, thrives, and expands in the months, years and decades ahead. Joining the Board is one small way I can try to contribute to this vital work!

The Richmond family is committed to building upon HPS's previous successes, to create a company that has an impact on the world for many years to come. Jessica Richmond, Barry's eldest daughter, is the new President of HPS. She has been joined by Zahed Sheikholeslami, who is now the Vice President. Steve Peterson will continue as Principal Consultant. The Advisory Board now includes some of the most experienced leaders in the field: Ali Mashayekhi, President of the International System Dynamics Society, John Morecroft of London Business School and Khalid Saeed, head of the first undergraduate degree granting program in system dynamics at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. As members of the Board we are committed to help the new management team realize the potential of HPS' pioneering work.

In the Fifth Discipline Fieldbook, I first wrote that lasting change arises from a deep learning cycle that includes three distinct components:

1. New awareness and sensibilities
2. New attitudes and beliefs, and
3. New skills and capabilities.

Barry, working with his colleagues at HPS, probably has contributed more to the skills and capabilities (in the area of Systems Thinking), than anyone I've known! They were the first to identify and articulate the distinctive competencies of a Systems Thinker: The "Thinking" in Systems Thinking: Seven Essential Skills (Richmond, Pegasus Communications, 2000), such as "operational thinking," needed to ground understanding in the physical processes and information flows of real organizations, and "feedback thinking," which helps in distinguishing intended from unintended effects of policies. In so doing, they were able to develop training materials that help the learner start building each of these thinking skills. If you are serious about building systems thinking skills in your organization, consider attending one of the several workshop offerings described in this on-line magazine. And if you have already attended one of their workshops, you'll benefit from the new "Taking it the Next Level" workshop described for the first time in this magazine.

The end result of developing systems thinking skills (which also impact our awareness, and ultimately our attitudes and beliefs) is that we as individuals, organizations, and society will be better able to explore the deep and complex questions we are currently facing, such as:

• How do we balance short-term requirements with longer-term development of people, products and markets in our businesses?
• How can we create learning-by-doing curricula in schools that actually foster higher order thinking skills?
• How can we, as societies, build shared understanding of complex issues like global warming and global terrorism?

The Service Team at HPS, led by Steve Peterson-who has over 20 years experience in the systems thinking field-is committed to facilitating more rigorous, productive conversations around such questions. The skills and tools HPS provides can establish a common language for building understanding and the simulation tools to engage wider communities in broadening that understanding. The Story of the Month feature in this on-line magazine is a great example of how the HPS team believes systems thinking can be used in such important conversations. Please download the story and see for yourself!

In future issues of this magazine, Board members (like me), or consumers of HPS products and services (like you!), will write a column presenting one viewpoint those at HPS think you might want to hear. Perhaps you'd like to write a column. Let them know. Or perhaps there is another way you hope to bring systems thinking to important issues in your organization and society. Please join me as I work with HPS to continue building upon the enduring legacy of Barry Richmond. As the world becomes more and more interdependent, systems thinking becomes less and less a luxury and increasingly a requirement for building healthy organizations and finding healthy ways of living together.