Employing System Thinking for Building Shared Vision in a Youth-led NGO (the materials of the Workshop on System Thinking conducted in 'Model United Nations of the Russian Far East')

摘要

The paper describes how system thinking archetypes were employed for solving a persistent problem of a youth-led NGO in Russia (Model United Nations of the Russian Far East), where the author served as an Assistant Managing Director since 2007 till 2011. Even though the projects conducted by MUNRFE branch in Vladivostok within the previous six months had reached their targets, there was always an implicit concern over the way those projects were conducted. Throughout a one-day system thinking workshop the presidential team elaborated the archetype called "Dissatisfaction with successful projects". The archetype made explicit an important mental model: MUNRFE projects were considered to be truly successful only if they served as learning opportunities for project team members. As the coordinators lacked the capacity to develop shared vision among team members with diverse perspectives, that important mission of the projects was not fulfilled. Model United Nations of the Russian Far East (MUNRFE) is one of the biggest youth-led organizations in that region of Russia.