Why problems keep coming back (and how to stop it)

How do you avoid wasting time and resources on short-sighted decisions?

What does it mean to think in systems?

Donella Meadows says it best:

If you don’t change the system, you recreate the problem.
Every. Single. Time.

We see this everywhere in organisations:

• A new process rolls out → slips back two months later
• Leadership programmes launch → behaviour barely shifts
• Onboarding is redesigned → performance stays flat

Not because people resist change, but because structure wins, not intention.

You can send managers on training… but if the organisation rewards hitting numbers over developing people, the behaviour won’t change.

Thinking in systems helps us shift from:

Reacting to symptoms → Redesigning structures
Blaming individuals → Understanding drivers & blockers
Pushing harder → Removing friction
Short-term fixes → Long-term capability

You stop asking: “Who messed this up?”
And start asking: “What in the system makes this pattern inevitable?”

That’s when real change becomes possible.

I recorded a short video unpacking the key ideas from “Thinking in Systems” by Donnella Meadows.