Systems Innovation Toolkit Walk Through

Quick Overview

The Systems Innovation (SI) Toolkit, developed over the past five years and recently released as version 2.0, provides an open-source set of modules (canvases) designed to support systems change initiatives through a four-stage overall process: Explore, Map, Ideate, and Develop. The toolkit is accessible via the SI Network website, where users can download a PDF guide or use the templates directly in Miro, which includes 20 color-coded canvases organized into these four main sections, each with five sub-units.

Key Points: The Systems Innovation Toolkit (SI Toolkit) was developed over the past five years and is now available as version 2.0. The toolkit is an open-source set of modules/canvases designed to support systems change initiatives. The overall process follows four stages: Explore, Map, Ideate, and Develop. The toolkit contains 20 color-coded canvases, organized into four main sections corresponding to the process stages. Users can access the toolkit by downloading the full PDF guide or using the templates directly within Miro. The Systems Thinking Canvas is the first module, designed to help people think more systematically about a challenge by moving from partial/linear thinking to holistic/emergent thinking.

Context: The presenter introduces the Systems Innovation Toolkit, which has been in development for five years and is now being presented in its latest version, 2.0. This toolkit functions as an open-source collection of modules or canvases intended to guide practitioners through complex systems change initiatives. The presenter emphasizes that the tools are based on an understanding of systems innovation and are structured around a cyclical, four-part process.

Detailed Analysis

The video walks through the Systems Innovation Toolkit, an open-source collection of modules created over five years, now in version 2.0. The toolkit uses an overall process involving four stages: Explore (rethinking the challenge systemically), Map (identifying high leverage places to intervene), Ideate (designing new innovations), and Develop (connecting and growing the new network/ecosystem). The toolkit contains 20 canvases structured around these four stages, color-coded purple (Explore), green (Map), orange (Ideate), and brown (Develop), with five sub-units per stage. The presenter directs viewers to the SI Network website to download the full PDF guide or use the Miro template directly. The first section detailed is Systems Thinking (purple), which guides users from observable outcomes to underlying patterns, contrasting partial/linear views with holistic/emergent ones. The next main section covered is Systems Mapping & Leverage (green), designed to help groups gain a deeper understanding of existing systems by mapping key factors and actions. The presenter then briefly mentions the Tree Canvas for mapping current and future systems and the Iceberg Canvas for understanding systemic challenges, noting that detailed walkthroughs for these specific canvases are provided in subsequent videos.