Dialogic containers and the danger of metaphors

Mike Jackson takes apart three common metaphors that get folks off on the wrong foot when thinking about systems: the elephant, the iceberg and the lever: When I make the case for eradication of elephants, icebergs and leverage points from the discourse of systems thinking, I am often told that, while these metaphors are simplistic, they do offer beginners an easy route in. I take a contrary view – that it is cruel, disheartening and confusing for novices to be led in the wrong direction and then asked to retrace their steps. There are better ways of introducing systems thinking to beginners. What other metaphors? For a start, anything that moves, is uncontrollable, is alive and is responsive to conditions. Over the years have talked about jazz improvisation, the real motion of rivers, a whirlpool, football, weather systems, and many others. useful metaphors need to be relevant to the context, and explain aspects what is trying to be understood – no map of the system can replicate the…