The book shines a light on the important work that many people are doing around the world. You may not have heard about them; what they do is rarely in their job description. You may not even be aware of what they do; they tend to act as enablers rather than taking credit or seeking the spotlight. But they are here-working to make a difference in complex social landscapes. We call them systems conveners. Systems conveners enable learning across boundaries, connect people across silos, and convene them to work on what they see can be achieved if a broader range of views are brought to bear. In this, they have a vital role to play in helping us address the complex challenges of the 21st century. The book starts with portraits of systems conveners working in different contexts including doing community development in villages in Zambia, bringing together different groups in a U.S. town to do urban planning, tackling tribal conflict resolution in Nigeria, and undertaking systems transformation in the UK National Health Service. To provide a clear articulation of the role and practice of systems conveners, the book then describes seven aspects of the work they do, with quotes from practitioners to bring these descriptions to life. The book ends with a framework for understanding and guiding systems convening. For many people, being a systems convener is only something that exists in retrospect. This highly readable book does not require familiarity with systems theory or practice. It is for and about people who find themselves doing systems convening simply because it is essential to the difference they care to make. We hope that shining a light on this work will be useful for those who already do it, for those looking for a way in, and for those who are in a position to sponsor the work. If you are a systems convener, we hope you recognize yourself in these pages and see that you are not alone. We hope you gain some language to describe what you do and find some inspiration in the approaches, practices, and strategies of your peers.

Today, more people want to know how to make a meaningful difference to what they care about. But for that, traditional approaches to learning often fall short. In this book, we offer a theoretical and practical way forward. We introduce the concept of social learning spaces for developing both new capabilities and a sense of agency. We provide a rich framework for focusing on the value of social learning spaces: how to generate this value, monitor it, and learn iteratively through the process. The book is a useful extension and refinement of 'communities of practice' for those familiar with the theory. For those who are not, the chapters will lay out a new way to approach learning. This volume is written to serve the needs of readers across fields, including researchers, educators, and leaders in business, government, healthcare, and international development.

If the body of knowledge of a profession is a living landscape of practice, then our personal experience of learning can be thought of as a journey through this landscape. Within Learning in Landscapes of Practice, this metaphor is further developed in order to start an important conversation about the nature of practice knowledge, identity and the experience of practitioners and their learning. In doing so, this book is a pioneering and timely exploration of the future of professional development and higher education. The book combines a strong theoretical perspective grounded in social learning theories with stories from a broad range of contributors who occupy different locations in their own landscapes of practice. These narratives locate the book within different contemporary concerns such as social media, multi-agency, multi-disciplinary and multi-national partnerships, and the integration of academic study and workplace practice. Both scholarly, in the sense that it builds on prior research to extend and locate the concept of landscapes of practice, and practical because of the way in which it draws on multiple voices from different landscapes. Learning in Landscapes of Practice will be of particular relevance to people concerned with the design of professional or vocational learning. It will also be a valuable resource for students engaged in higher education courses with work-based elements.

Shows how leaders can access the deepest source of inspiration and vision • Includes dozens of tested exercises, practices, and real-world examples We live in a time of massive institutional failure, one that requires a new consciousness and a new collective leadership capacity. In this groundbreaking book, Otto Scharmer invites us to see the world in new ways and in so doing discover a revolutionary approach to leadership. What we pay attention to and how we pay attention is key to what we create. What prevents us from attending to situations more effectively is that we aren’t fully aware of and in touch with the inner place from which attention and intention originate. This is what Scharmer calls our blind spot. By moving through Scharmer’s U process, we consciously access the blind spot and learn to connect to our authentic Self—the deepest source of knowledge and inspiration—in the realm of “presencing,” a term coined by Scharmer that combines the concepts of presence and sensing. Based on ten years of research and action learning and interviews with over 150 practitioners and thought leaders, Theory U offers a rich diversity of compelling stories and examples and includes dozens of exercises and practices that allow leaders, and entire organizations, to shift awareness, connect with the best future possibility, and gain the ability to realize it.

This timely Research Handbook provides a comprehensive and transdisciplinary overview of current research in the field of health leadership. Emphasising diverse perspectives and under-explored issues, it calls for a sustainable future embracing social justice, technological innovation and artificial intelligence, patient-centredness of care, and the fair treatment of workers. This title contains one or more Open Access chapters.

Designing for Change brings to life decades of research in social learning theory by Beverly and Etienne Wenger-Trayner. This is a case study of the University Innovation Fellows student program, an example of how their theories have played out in higher education. While learning has historically been associated with mental acquisition of a curriculum, colleges and universities today are recognizing that our young people must leave school prepared to tackle complex, real-world problems that are not always found in textbooks. How might we provide students with opportunities to gain these necessary skills and mindsets? The learning frameworks and stories in this book will provide insights into how social learning theory can be used to help students approach challenges head-on and create meaningful solutions that benefit everyone.

Drawing its origins from the Human Relations movement of the early 20th century and from public leadership orientations emphasising human aspects, human-centred public leadership approaches leadership from a system ́s perspective. It explores societal institutions, organisations, and phenomena as an emergent system structure that manifests its existence through the multilateral and reciprocal interaction of its parts. Systems thinking and the need for systemic change suggest that one can only understand and improve a system by looking at how all the parts interact with each other and how they are integrated. The systemic nature of public leadership refers to dynamic learning mechanisms as they relate to the contents of leadership development tools which are derived mainly from the changing mode of the operating environment, from the leaders’ own experience, from their own personalities, from a learning-by-doing approach to leadership development, and from the ways in which leaders learn and unlearn. This book presents key concepts, approaches, origins, applications, and best practices to understand the evolution and nature of human-centred approach in public leadership. It introduces a new public leadership paradigm that is needed in a complex, internationally interconnected social, economic, cultural, and political environment. Based on scholarly public leadership research in addition to the authors’ professional experience as academics, managers, practitioners and consultants, this volume offers guidance for decision-makers, public, business, and non-governmental sector leaders, managers, and practitioners about how to create a context and contents for human-centred leadership in the age of complex society and turbulent operating environment. It will be of value to researchers, academics, and students in the in the fields of leadership and public management.