“Spirit of place! It is for this we travel, to surprise its subtlety; and where it is a strong and dominant angel, that place, seen once, abides entire in the memory with all its own accidents, its habits, its breath, its name.” — Alice Meynell

Consider any societal challenge — sustainability, epidemics, social justice, poverty. It seems that every one of those challenges is commonly understood in a global or broad way while the solutions and interventions are very local and individualized. This makes sense, because many societal challenges are the aggregation of personal challenges. What makes them societal challenges, and not just the sum of a lot of personal challenges, is the systemic nature of the problems.

Have you ever seen that viral video about trophic cascades? It is narrated by George Monbiot, the British writer and environmentalist. The video explains how reintroducing wolves into Yellowstone National Park ultimately changed the rivers through a trophic cascade. The wolves were reintroduced to the park in the 1990s, and they ‘radically changed the behavior of the deer’, which then caused a cascade of secondary and tertiary effects in the park. Monbiot goes on to explain that the wolves also changed the behavior of the rivers. The regenerating forests and vegetation resulted in less soil erosion and therefore stabilized the rivers. If you haven’t seen the video, it is linked below.

This is a perfect example of beautiful systems-level storytelling. The story at first glance seems to be about the wolves, but actually the story is about the Yellowstone National Park ecosystem. The main character of the story is not the wolves, rather it is the park itself.

“Sometimes reality is too complex. Stories give it form.” — Jean-Luc Godard

So many of the challenges that face society could benefit from systems-level stories. There are numerous benefits associated with the process of developing systems-level stories. Here are a few.

1. Shared understanding

Developing a system-level story inherently requires a broader understanding than that of an individual or local story. As a system-level story coalesces, so does a shared understanding of the broader issues, constraints, and opportunities. This process can also challenge assumptions associated with a problem set.

2. New perspectives

Individual and local stories of course usually only have one perspective or a very limited perspective. In systems-level stories, it is more likely that a multitude of perspectives and voices are used to tell the story. This inherently means more perspectives on solution sets, interrelationships and inter-dependencies, and the nature of the problem sets.

3. Strengthening working relationships

Systems-level stories have a unique ability to illuminate relationships between characters whether they be individuals, organizations, cities, or countries. This illumination of relationships enables new ideas about collaboration and organized efforts to address societal problems sets.

4. Contextualizing individual and local experiences

Perhaps the most obvious benefit of systems-level storytelling is to let every individual and local community know that they are not alone, and that others are experiencing the same or similar problems. This understanding also helps create awareness about the scale of the problem. Sometimes when we as a society realize how big a problem actually is, we become more willing to allocate resources to solve the problem.

How do you develop and tell a systems-level story?

As with telling individual stories, there are infinitely many unique and powerful ways to tell a systems-level story. It is, however, useful to focus on a few things when developing a systems-level story. These four areas of focus are particularly useful.

1. Describe the mechanics of the system

If you were writing a story at an individual level, you’d develop the character by describing how the character’s mind works and what their thoughts are on other characters and facets of life. In a similar way, when you are developing a systems-level story, you must describe how the system works. What are the gears and levers? Is the system a well-oiled machine? Where is there rust on the machinery? Did the system always work this way? Simplify complexity.

2. Explain the impacts of the system

The impacts of the system might be at the end of the system’s story or part of the how the system operates over and over again. There might be immediate impacts and longer term impacts. There could be positive impacts, negative impacts, obvious impacts, non-obvious impacts, etc. This can be used to personify the system or to develop the nature of the system in the eyes of the reader. Use this to describe what progress looks like.

3. Zoom in and out

In an effort to facilitate and contextualize the story, it is useful to zoom in to a part of the system to see some of the inner workings and details. It is also useful to zoom out to see, for example, how small things add up in a big way. This can also help with the progression and narration of the story as it creates a natural transition and change in perspective.

4. Highlight relationships and illuminate contrast

If you are describing a tale of two cities to tell the story of a pandemic, then spend time developing the key relationships and digging deeper on the differences. Unpack the nature of problem sets and solution sets and how they worked and/or didn’t work.

Why is it important to tell systems-level stories?

Because they remind us that we are a part of something bigger than ourselves. We are individuals, yes, but we are also members of communities, teams, organizations, and a species. We are the threads that weave the tapestry of human life.

“We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, “O me! O life!… of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless… of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?” Answer. That you are here — that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play *goes on* and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?” — Robin Williams, Dead Poets Society