Where an iceberg is static and disconnected from its environment, trees are organic, living beings that demonstrate the interconnectedness, resilience and dynamism inherent in complex systems.

Siksika Elder Roy Bear Chief tells the story of Ani to pisi (spiderweb), gifted to him by his late older brother, Clement. A disturbance anywhere on the web creates vibrations that reverberate throughout the entire web.

As the ball of yarn continues to be tossed from person to person, a web emerges. If one person pulls on the web, others feel the tug, the tension, or the release. What happens in one part of a system affects the others.

Often we use words like system, systems thinking, systems change, systems leadership, and so on without taking the time to explain what we mean. This is the first in a series of three posts that explore the question, ‘what is a system?’.