How does GISTICS use visual thinking tools in conducting open-systems research?

A single visual depiction of a complex idea or system can evoke an understanding or insight that might take hundreds or thousands words to convey.

A single figure can depict any or all the following ideas:

• Attributes, facets, aspects, dimension
• Causes and effects
• Context
• Correspondences
• Hierarchy
• Off-setting goals or motivations
• Organizing principles
• Precedence
• Processes or procedures
• Time series or sequences
• Transference or transitive properties
• Transformations

A well-formed figure not only conveys information, but a visual depiction also induces readers to sort and categorize the contents of their experience, often eliciting a deep recognition or insight—something that the reader knew, but to which he or she did not have ready access or did not actively know.

A well-formed figure draws forth preexisting but latent insights and recognitions from the reader.

We use well-formed figures to put better, more incisive, and more systemic questions to our clients and their customers. As a result, clients and their customers share often-profound insights and the seeds of breakthrough strategies.

We use well-formed figures to frame investment decisions for new technologies and disruptive innovations. As a result, our presentations and white papers facilitate the decision to buy.

We use a set of well-formed figures to define, anchor, and maintain a coherent view of an extremely complex system, The Era of Trust Networks, and show how to create wealth by harnessing the dynamics of this exciting new stage of human development.