Colleague and friend Frank Fisher succumbed to the effects of a brain tumour and passed away Tuesday last (21st August 2012). Fortunately there was time for some celebration of Frank's achievements before his death (held on June 25th though sadly I was not in Melbourne at the time). This included the preparation of a collation of 'Frank Stories' in the form of a book which he had a chance to see and comment upon, although the final version is yet to appear. One of his legacies is the Understandascope website.
When I thought about who I might invite to launch my book, 'Systems Practice: How to Act in Climate-Change World', at the Melbourne Writer's Festival in 2010, Frank was an obvious choice. He was one of the few people I knew in Melbourne who appreciated and enacted cybersystemic understandings. As in all things Frank brought his own idiosyncratic style to the event.
Various postings with their associated comments demonstrate that Frank has significantly influenced the lives of many - he was an educator with the capacity to transform, and transform for the better. In their book 'The Western Intellectual Tradition' Bronowski and Mazlish said (p.353) '..it is the men out of sympathy with the existing university education and government who make the new science'. Whilst they referred to the late 18th century industrial revolution and the Lunar Society Frank's life is testimony that this tradition of critical questioning and acting persists. It is to be hoped that in the not too distant future we can claim that he was a man ahead of his time and at the vanguard of a new form of scholarship more appropriate to our circumstances.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Planet Under Pressure - resources
Since attending the Planet Under Pressure conference in London in March more resources have been posted to the website.
New Systems book
A new Systems book, The Manager's Guide to Systems Practice: Making Sense of Complex Problems [Hardcover] co-authored by Frank Stowell and Christine Welch, has just been published. Any feedback?
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Achievement as avoidance
One of the most delightful moments for me at the recent ASC/BIG conference (which I blogged about earlier) was the acceptance speech of Susan Rose Parenti when awarded the ASC's Warren McCulloch Achievement Award. In her acceptance speech, which she cannot have had long to compose, Susan reframed achievement as avoidance taking a very cybernetic spin on the subject. I commend her speech to viewing.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
The Puritan Gift
The late Russ Ackoff wrote a foreward to the paperback version of 'The Puritan Gift' (published 2009), written by the Hopper Brothers. The book, which first appeared in 2007 as 'The Puritan Gift: Triumph, Collapse and Revival of an
American Dream' was named by the Financial Times one of that year’s Top Ten
Business Books. Whilst recommended to me, I have yet to read it. I wonder to what extent it could be claimed that the Hopper Brothers take a systemic perspective?
I note in this review it is claimed that the Hopper brothers argue that: 'As for the bad kind [of capitalism], the brothers blame post-war American business schools, particularly after the 1970s. As curricula became dominated by “financial engineering,” profit and performance were prioritized before all else.'
I note in this review it is claimed that the Hopper brothers argue that: 'As for the bad kind [of capitalism], the brothers blame post-war American business schools, particularly after the 1970s. As curricula became dominated by “financial engineering,” profit and performance were prioritized before all else.'
ASC produces new resources
Ranulph Glanville, ASC President writes to advise that:
'at Asilomar the ASC celebrated Klaus Krippendorff's 80th birthday by publishing a linked directory to his most significant publications that you can download .
You can find an online video of Klaus' Asilomar keynote presentation (including the cutting of his birthday cake towards the end).
We also posted a scan of Klaus's dictionary of cybernetics.
Claudia Westermann made high quality scans of the few issues of Cybernetic that we published in the 1980s. This was an experimental journal that attempted to work (30 years early and in print) as if it were an online journal!
Finally, we asked each member of the ASC to try to introduce at least one new member each year.'
'at Asilomar the ASC celebrated Klaus Krippendorff's 80th birthday by publishing a linked directory to his most significant publications that you can download .
You can find an online video of Klaus' Asilomar keynote presentation (including the cutting of his birthday cake towards the end).
We also posted a scan of Klaus's dictionary of cybernetics.
Claudia Westermann made high quality scans of the few issues of Cybernetic that we published in the 1980s. This was an experimental journal that attempted to work (30 years early and in print) as if it were an online journal!
Finally, we asked each member of the ASC to try to introduce at least one new member each year.'
Howard Silverman - reflections on ISSS
Just prior to the ASC/BIG and ISSS conferences I became aware of Howard Silverman's excellent blog called Solving for Pattern. My awareness came from feedback Howard provided on some of my own work. Then we had the chance to meet and chat at the two Californian conferences.
In a reflection on these, Howard writes:
'I appreciate your call at the [ASC] cybernetics conference for greater attention to authentic conversation. That's a high bar -- and by that standard, both conferences fell short. Yet at the same time, i did really enjoy them both, and found them both very welcoming.
ISSS seems kind of quirky to me. Can't quite escape the shadow of its founding giants. Somewhat burdened and exasperated by the ambition to develop a system of systems. Missing a process for incorporating fields -- like, say, network theory -- that have emerged since the Bertalanffy/Boulding era. Split between the positivist-leaning system engineering folks and the more interpretive/critical folks. Yet, despite it all, the power of the original vision attracts new participants, and the opportunity to share a space in that shadow seems to offer ongoing value. It was certainly valuable for me.
By the way, i posted the slides from my talk. One of the main themes i'm exploring is how context shifting -- across organizational, social, and ecosystem contexts -- affects the application of systems approaches.'
In a reflection on these, Howard writes:
'I appreciate your call at the [ASC] cybernetics conference for greater attention to authentic conversation. That's a high bar -- and by that standard, both conferences fell short. Yet at the same time, i did really enjoy them both, and found them both very welcoming.
ISSS seems kind of quirky to me. Can't quite escape the shadow of its founding giants. Somewhat burdened and exasperated by the ambition to develop a system of systems. Missing a process for incorporating fields -- like, say, network theory -- that have emerged since the Bertalanffy/Boulding era. Split between the positivist-leaning system engineering folks and the more interpretive/critical folks. Yet, despite it all, the power of the original vision attracts new participants, and the opportunity to share a space in that shadow seems to offer ongoing value. It was certainly valuable for me.
By the way, i posted the slides from my talk. One of the main themes i'm exploring is how context shifting -- across organizational, social, and ecosystem contexts -- affects the application of systems approaches.'
Monday, August 13, 2012
Positive media stories: towards 'tipping points'?
I was somewhat taken aback over the weekend when I read in The Weekend Australian an excellent article by Paul Cleary entitled 'One law for the mines...'. It is neither the type of story or perspective I associate with Murdoch's main Australian paper. Cleary's central argument is a good one that goes to the core of on-going systemic failure in governance that, in particular, relates to the biophysical environment. He says:
'As governments have begun approving mega-mines and risky coal-seam gas [CSG] developments, the number of conditions attached to each project has risen inexorably.
Extensive lists of conditions make for impressive press releases from ministers approving projects. Interestingly, though, the mining companies don't complain about the conditions, largely because they know governments rarely enforce them. The reality of Australia's "world's best-practice regulation" is that both state and federal governments lack the willingness and capacity to enforce the environmental limits set out in their approval criteria.'
Regulation is easy to put in place - as are many other traditional policy prescriptions - but as we have shown in our decade or more of research on social learning (an alternative form of governance to that of regulation, education/information and fiscal or market mechanisms) these are hard to monitor, police and enforce. This is why Australians, or citizens of any country where a coal seam or shale gas rush is breaking out, would be well-advised to heed Cleary's arguments. Cleary is a writer for the Australian and author of the new book Mine-Field which 'plots the dubious networks created and greased by mining companies to get their projects through, and exposes regulatory gaps that must be addressed to prevent enormous and irreversible harm to our society and environment.' As he notes in his article, which draws from his latest book:
'In a race to the bottom, mining regulation in Australia is a case of one rule for the miners and gas companies, and another for everyone else.' ......'Drug disasters like thalidomide were quick in their impact, and governments responded, but the potentially damaging effects of CSG projects on groundwater may take decades to show up. In the meantime, state governments will be cashing in on their share of the production revenue via royalty agreements. And, at present, they can't authorise new projects fast enough.'
The assault on the Earth through CSG, the accumulation of toxic wastes, fracking of shale deposits and the like constitute a 'theatre of war' in the Anthropocene. The irony is that it is war with ourselves and one in which all of us humans will ultimately be losers.
In London does the success of Ten Billion – a scientist's one-man show on environmental woes – which has has been an unexpected sell-out hit augur well for a tipping-point breakthrough, or is it yet just another performance in the theatre of the resistance?
'As governments have begun approving mega-mines and risky coal-seam gas [CSG] developments, the number of conditions attached to each project has risen inexorably.
Extensive lists of conditions make for impressive press releases from ministers approving projects. Interestingly, though, the mining companies don't complain about the conditions, largely because they know governments rarely enforce them. The reality of Australia's "world's best-practice regulation" is that both state and federal governments lack the willingness and capacity to enforce the environmental limits set out in their approval criteria.'
Regulation is easy to put in place - as are many other traditional policy prescriptions - but as we have shown in our decade or more of research on social learning (an alternative form of governance to that of regulation, education/information and fiscal or market mechanisms) these are hard to monitor, police and enforce. This is why Australians, or citizens of any country where a coal seam or shale gas rush is breaking out, would be well-advised to heed Cleary's arguments. Cleary is a writer for the Australian and author of the new book Mine-Field which 'plots the dubious networks created and greased by mining companies to get their projects through, and exposes regulatory gaps that must be addressed to prevent enormous and irreversible harm to our society and environment.' As he notes in his article, which draws from his latest book:
'In a race to the bottom, mining regulation in Australia is a case of one rule for the miners and gas companies, and another for everyone else.' ......'Drug disasters like thalidomide were quick in their impact, and governments responded, but the potentially damaging effects of CSG projects on groundwater may take decades to show up. In the meantime, state governments will be cashing in on their share of the production revenue via royalty agreements. And, at present, they can't authorise new projects fast enough.'
The assault on the Earth through CSG, the accumulation of toxic wastes, fracking of shale deposits and the like constitute a 'theatre of war' in the Anthropocene. The irony is that it is war with ourselves and one in which all of us humans will ultimately be losers.
In London does the success of Ten Billion – a scientist's one-man show on environmental woes – which has has been an unexpected sell-out hit augur well for a tipping-point breakthrough, or is it yet just another performance in the theatre of the resistance?
Tuesday, August 07, 2012
'I Have the Honor to be, Sir'
After a good many years of research I managed late last year to complete another book in my family history research series:
Ison, R.L. (2011) ‘I have the Honor to be Sir. The Coleman family and their Irish origins’. Self Published. 597p. (ISBN 978-09551270-1-4).
These works are as much about social history as they are about family history. Copies have been placed in the main, relevant Libraries in NSW, WA, Victoria, Tasmania, Canberra, Galway, Dublin, Missouri and London.
From the Preface:
Ison, R.L. (2011) ‘I have the Honor to be Sir. The Coleman family and their Irish origins’. Self Published. 597p. (ISBN 978-09551270-1-4).
These works are as much about social history as they are about family history. Copies have been placed in the main, relevant Libraries in NSW, WA, Victoria, Tasmania, Canberra, Galway, Dublin, Missouri and London.
From the Preface:
This document is built around the
family of Joseph Coleman, my Irish great, great grandfather. It begins in Australia
and delves back to Ireland
before moving via the USA
back to Australia. To a lesser extent, this research is also
about the spouses of the Coleman men and women, particularly, for example, Isabella
Mercer, my Scottish great, great grandmother and Annie Darcy, wife of
Joseph’s brother Daniel Coleman. Despite
considerable documentary evidence both of my great, great grandparents, remain
somewhat elusive characters – no family members in any of the many branches
appear to have compiled or recreated the story of our Coleman ancestors, either
in writing or orally. To some extent
each generation was the bearer of secrets they did not wish to be known or
told. Joseph's arrival in Australia
in the 1850s and some aspects of his Irish origins remain a mystery. However, my research has shed considerable
light on Joseph’s father, Edward Coleman, fortuitously wounded at the Battle of
Akbar in Egypt
in 1801. I mean fortuitous in the sense
that it gave rise to records which I was able to find. But more importantly it entitled him to a
pension which may have been the means by which he and his family survived the
famine.
A table of contents follows:
Preface
Part
1
1. Joseph and
Isabella Coleman
1.1.
Introduction
1.2
Early years in Australia
1.2.1
Joseph Coleman - arrival
1.2.2
Joseph Coleman – early records
1.2.3
Isabella
Mercer
1.2.4
In Tasmania - about 1859 to
1863
1.2.5
Policing at Fingal
1.2.6
Death of Joseph’s father in
Ireland
1.2.7
Leaving Tasmania
1.3
Teaching in NSW - a
summary
1.3.1
The organization of schools in
NSW
1.3.2
St James’s training school and the Church of England
schools
1.3.3
Joseph’s first appointment
1.4
Denominational school at North
Kurrajong
1.5
Ryde Church of England Denominational
School
1.5.1
Conflict between members of the school board and
Isabella Colman
1.5.2
Escape to
Tasmania
1.5.3
Applying for
promotion
1.6
Richmond Church of England Denominational
School
1.6.1
The history of the Richmond Denominational
school
1.6.2
At Richmond – the benign early
years
1.6.3
Disturbing times at
Richmond
1.6.4
Reflections on Rev. Dr
Woolls
1.7
Moorilda Public
School
1.7.1
Appointed as local
postmaster
1.7.2
Attending to school
matters
1.7.3
Building and making repairs to the
school
1.7.4
Difficulties with
promotion
1.7.5
Reports relating to Isabella's
illness
1.7.6
Influential
friends
1.8
Mortdale - Joseph's final
school
1.8.1
Joseph and the Mortdale
school
1.8.2
Promotion problems
again
1.9.
Isabella's death and Joseph's
remarriage
1.9.1
Joseph's new
family
1.9.2
Inspections and other
incidents
1.10
Retirement
1.10.1
Joseph's will - and the much talked about
legacy
1.11
Unresolved questions
1.12
Main
references
1.13
Appendices
1.13.1
Joseph Coleman Family
Tree
1.13.2
Glossary of Terms associated with Schools in NSW
Part
2
2. The Coleman
Family in
Ireland
2.1
Edward Coleman,
soldier
2.1.1
North Mayo Militia muster and payroll
records
2.1.2
Edward and the 13th
Foot
2.2
Coleman records in County
Mayo
2.3
Edward Coleman,
farmer
2.4
Edward Coleman, husband and
father
2.4.1
The D’Arcy family and Clifden
Castle
2.4.2
Back to the family
records
2.5
Hyacinth D’Arcy and the ‘evangelical
milieu’ of
Clifden
2.6
The famine in
Clifden
2.7
Summing up
2.8
Appendices
2.8.1
Search of National Archives PROCAT, Sunday 17 October,
2005
2.8.2
Posting by Maria Feerick on
Genforum:
2.8.3
Continental officers killed, captivated, wounded, and
missing, in the
actions of the 16th and 18th of August, 1780 (American War of
Independence)
Part
3
3. Daniel
Coleman
3.1.
Early years in Australia – marriage to
Annie
Darcy
3.2
In Tasmania - about 1863 -
1871
3.3.
Bootmaking and family life in
Ballarat
3.4
Children of Daniel Coleman and Annie
Darcy
3.4.1
Joseph Jeremiah
Coleman
3.4.2
Annie May
Coleman
3.4.3
Margaret
Coleman
3.4.4
Edward Daniel
Coleman
3.4.5
Edith Marian
Coleman
3.4.6
Gilbert John
Coleman
3.5
Daniel’s remarriage – Emily
Wigley
3.6
Coleman and Shiells, ink
manufacturer
3.7
Retirement to
Melbourne
3.8
The children of Daniel’s second
marriage
3.8.1
Alice May
Coleman
3.8.2
Harry Richard
Coleman
3.9
Concluding
thoughts
Part
4
4. Brothers and
Sisters of Joseph and Daniel
Coleman
4.1
Edward
Coleman
4.1.1
The Liberty Non-Sectarian
Mission
4.1.2
Sorting out the available
records
4.1.3
Edward and Catherine’s
children
4.1.4
Other records of
interest
4.2
Ann
Coleman
4.3
The children of Edward and Bridget
Conneely
4.3.1
Patrick
Coleman
4.3.2
Thomas Coleman
4.3.3
Margaret
Coleman
4.3.4
Daughter (?) Coleman (Mary
Anne?)
4.3.5
Stephen Coleman
(?)
4.3.6
Val
Coleman
4.3.7
Mary Ann
Coleman
4.4
Loose ends and unanswered
questions
Part
5
5. Edward
Hyacinth Joseph
Coleman
5.1
Following in his father’s
footsteps
5.1.1
Becoming a pupil
teacher
5.1.2
Pupil teachers in
NSW
5.2
Upper Colo and Wheeny
Creek
5.3
Mount
Macquarie
5.4
Trunkey
Creek
5.4.1
Applying for travelling expenses and a new
stove
5.4.2
Complaint against the teacher
5.4.3
Leave to attend mother’s
funeral
5.4.4
Arbor day
enthusiasm
5.4.5
Dissatisfaction with current
situation
5.4.6
Complaints about cruelty
1893-94
5.4.7
Horace Coleman becomes a pupil
teacher
5.4.8
Ill-health
5.4.9
Running into
debt
5.5
Mulgoa
Forest
5.6
Arcadia
5.6.1
Correspondence from the
files
5.6.2
Insurmountable
debts
5.6.3
The ‘great swindle’
5.6.4
The final unravelling of a 27 year teaching
career
5.7
Retirement and
death
5.8
The family of Edward Coleman and
Lavinia
Gee
5.8.1
Horace
Coleman
5.8.2
Lavinia Josephine
Coleman
5.8.3
Edward Vere
Coleman
5.8.4
[Edward] Hyacinth Rupert
Coleman
5.8.5.
Evelyn
Coleman
Part
6
6. Augustus
Horatius Arthur Coleman
6.1
Gus's birth and early
years
6.2
Gus's teaching career - a
summary
6.3
Teaching - the early
years
6.3.1
The first
school
6.3.2
Blackfriars, St Peters,
Hurstville
6.3.3
The Mila
incident
6.3.4
Transfer to the central coast and Hunter
region
6.3.5
An interest in stories and
poetry
6.3.6
Stories from Black
Hill
6.4
Marriage and
family
6.4.1
Other events at Black
Hill
6.5
Leaving NSW and teaching in Western
Australia
6.5.1
Belltrees - Gus's last NSW
School
6.5.2
Death of Margaret
McKimm
6.5.3
The move to the
West
6.5.4
To
Mogumber
6.5.5
Troubled
times
6.5.6
To
Nannine
6.5.7
To Rottnest
Island
6.6
The return East and the final
illness
6.6.1
Matters concerning the children and other
correspondence
6.6.2
Gus's death and
funeral
6.7
Widowhood and condolences for
Jenny
6.7.1
Working to support the
family
6.8
Concluding
remarks
Part
7
7. Joseph
Coleman’s Second
Family
7.1
Florence Gibbons
Smith
7.2
Eustace Charles St Clair
Coleman
7.2.1
Becoming a
Minister
7.3
Gladys Josephine
Coleman
7.4
Joseph and Florence’s
grandsons
7.4.1
Frank Joseph Charles
Marjason
7.4.2
Leonard Cecil
Marjason
7.4.3
Kenneth William
Marjason
Part
8
8. The family of
Gus Coleman and Jenny McKimm
8.1
Isobella Dorothy Maude
Coleman
8.2
Lilian Margaret May
Coleman
8.3
Arthur Joseph Robert (Bill)
Coleman
8.4
Edward Victor John
Coleman
8.5
Constance Rebecca Mary
Coleman
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