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The capacity to make decisions in a rapidly changing, complex and uncertain operating landscape is becoming increasingly challenging. Much of what we witness is unpredictable and becoming increasingly difficult to manage. Leaders and managers in government and business need new frameworks and processes to better understand complexity and uncertainty. These frameworks and processes will enable them to develop and lead adaptive organisations so as to respond to the adaptive nature of business and society. 

This course enables participants to build their current and future capability and expertise to better understand complexity and uncertainty and develop programs and processes that will support adaptation within the organisation and the society that they serve. The course will present the principles and practices of system thinking and scenario planning as two key methodologies that will serve as critical decision-support tools in developing adaptive practices and inform strategy and policy development to enhance organisational performance. 

Systems thinking will assist decision-makers to develop maps of the dynamics that are shaping the policy landscape from which they gain a deep understanding of the key factors and the relationships between them that are shaping the policy landscape. These maps provide the source information to undertake strategic conversations that wrestle with the non-linear complexity that shapes the policy issue. Scenario planning provides a methodology that challenges beliefs and assumptions about the policy issue. The process assists policy and strategy developers to study the nature of uncertainty and take the insights gained, to inform policy and strategy from the future. 

Course overview

Topics include: 

  • An overview of the nature of change, complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity;
  • An overview of the concepts and principles of systems thinking, complex adaptive systems; 
  • An overview of foresight work and the practices of scenario planning

 

Learning outcomes

  • Participants attending the course will have new ways of perceiving and thinking about complex and uncertain policy environments
  • The course will provide the capability to develop the content to lead and manage for adaptation to a changing business environment
  • The capability to develop and share new narratives that impact on cultural change, policy and strategy development
  • Learn the skills and techniques of foresight work that will assist to inform policy and strategy development and address a range of other issues
  • The capacity to challenge belief systems about the dynamics of the business landscape and the implications this may have on the direction of the organisation and its consequential performance

 

Who is this course for?

  • Any sector that needs to understand the nature of its business environment and develop an organised response with the capacity to identify emerging trends and be able to respond to them
  • Policy development and implementation business units
  • This course is suitable for APS6 - SES, or equivalent level.

Testimonials

I am already thinking about how I can apply the exercises and guidance that I learnt in this course in relation to the next 6-12 months of my work. I also think this material is relevant for my peers and workplace. I have communicated and recommended this course to my team and SES. 

Presenter

A picture of Dr Gary Saliba
Gary Saliba

Dr Gary Saliba

Dr Gary Saliba is the Director of Strategic Journeys, a management consulting company, which assists people in organisations in strategy development work.

The unique role of Gary and his company is the integration of systems thinking, complex adaptive systems with futures studies and strategy development. This approach has enabled him to consult extensively across a range of government and commercial enterprises to develop organisational strategy that is based on plausible futures, using the scenario development methodology.

Gary’s approach is to work with people to enhance their processes in understanding their organisation’s operating environment and their own ways of operating. This leads to more informed decision-making and improved responsiveness and flexibility in an increasingly complex environment. 

Gary holds a BSc(Hons), PhD in Applied Mathematics and Dip Ed from the University of Sydney. He is a Fellow of the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation and Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.