We step into the future through the past
In retrospect, I only half-understood what I was signing up for when I began the System Dynamics in Organizationsprogram at the Hellinger Institute. Now, a year later, I bid farewell to my fellow students as we leave Texel to return to the mainland.
Throughout the year, people asked me about the program, and at first, I often replied with something like: “... something like family constellations, but in organizations.” However, this answer didn’t always clarify things, whether abroad or even here. Later in the year, we were tasked with practicing our own explanations, and I’m happy to share mine below.
I’m eager to start applying the insights I’ve gained, especially to use system knowledge to explore social and ethical issues. I want to delve into how we can use social constellations, stakeholder constellations, and nature constellations to better represent nature, future generations, and other unheard voices. This is important for companies, social organizations, governments, and individuals seeking to understand their relationships with both their immediate environment and the larger community of life.
I wonder:
Why some projects never seem to get off the ground.
Why we keep facing absenteeism and aggression.
Why a merger from ten years ago still hasn’t truly succeeded.
I wonder:
Why new colleagues often take a long time to understand how things work here.
Why it takes so many words to explain.
Why it stings when a new colleague quickly assumes they know it all.
I wonder:
Why I always end up standing beside management to clean up their mess.
Why I withdraw when someone doesn’t take me seriously—or leans on me too heavily.
Why my colleague looks to me for solutions instead of to themselves.
I wonder:
Why we ignore the influence of the larger forces shaping our time.
Why nature, rivers, and the sea remain voiceless despite their wisdom.
Why we base our decisions on the perspective of a small minority.
What if we could make the answers to these questions visible by mapping out the connections? Connections between who does and doesn’t belong. Connections between what can and cannot exist. And also the broken connections where the exchange of rewards is imbalanced or the role someone occupies doesn’t fit the hierarchy.
This is what system dynamics in organizations is all about. This is what we strive to reveal. We make the elements in the system—and their relationships—visible. Visible in the space, and visible relative to one another. Invisible energies become recognizable as elements attract or repel each other. Hidden emotions and perspectives find a voice.
Origins and destinations become clearer, and we step into the future through the past.
A heartfelt thank you to the Hellinger Institute and our trainers. Thank you to my fellow travelers for your wisdom, life lessons, and patience when I brought the entire world and all its living things into the constellations. And thank you to Texel for its beautiful nature and grounding energy.
Please contact me if you want to exchange ideas around constellations and what they could reveal to you or your organisation,