Being Better Better

Silvie, Norway

We all take part in systems - but do we really know how to be an intelligent part of them?

This book is larger than the sum of its parts. It is based on extensive work written by academic intellectuals, richly referenced, charmingly illustrated; but also profoundly rooted in human understanding and concern. Being Better Better(BBB) is a well of knowledge, wisdom and practical nudges for a wide audience on how to attune to and engage with Systems Intelligence. It is highly employable for those of us on the lookout for fresh ways to contextualize why it is crucial that we consciously grow as humans. A way to do this is by bettering our skills on how we impact the world around us and how we are impacted in return. This is done in the systems we live with.

BBB helps to structure this employment more consciously by educating and illustrating what the concept of Systems Intelligence consists of through rich examples and stories on how to attune to and reflect on its eight dimensions. The authors use the terms System Perception, Attunement, and Reflection as an invitation to see, tune into and reflect on how we think, feel and act in any relational setting. The book proceeds with five more dimensions that specify the way we communicate, the way we engage with new ideas, the way we make timely, appropriate actions, our ability to behave with understanding over time and our overall approach to life in systems. These dimensions in sum become enablers for applying Systems Intelligence as an “intuitive conceptual tool,” (p.8) in addition to be a theory and a conceptual perspective. For me, this concept and its dimensions become a valuable source of references for practical systems coaching and research alike.

The book's language is engaging and positive in its contagious eagerness for attuning the reader to what the practice of betterment entails. I appreciate the consistent use of 'her' when referring to a person. This decision empowers me and acknowledges a dissymmetry all too familiar, by the customarily used masculine pronoun.

Being Better Better – Living with Systems Intelligence contains highly useful and applicable material in times of great change. As every area in our lives is affected by change, developing system intelligent skills is imperative for navigating change effectively. Everyone will profit enhancing their System Intelligence knowledge and committing to a practice of betterment. This book offers immense value in its contagious message of changing our perception from ME to WE, or as Donatella Meadows is quoted (p.207): `living in a world that is about us, not me'.