In our rush toward digital solutions, we sometimes forget our own abilities to see the patterns, the connections, and the relationships that create possibility. This skill to perceive systems is especially valuable in community work, where the most important dynamics are often hard to see: who trusts whom, where knowledge lives, what unofficial channels actually get things done, and which connections could spark something new.
The challenge is making these systems visible in ways that invite participation. When we use simple, tangible, low-tech approaches—drawing on paper, using color deliberately, creating physical objects people can touch and rearrange—something shifts. These accessible methods make systems thinking tangible. When we map out our systems, everyone can contribute, point to what matters, and move pieces around to make sense of it all. Each person brings expertise in something different, and together, that diversity of knowledge makes so much possible. What makes us different makes us wise.
When a community can collectively visualize its own system—its assets, gaps, relationships, and potential—people spot opportunities for connection they hadn’t noticed before. They understand why certain initiatives struggle while others thrive. They can think and act more systemically, because they can see and touch the system they’re part of. In a world that fragments our attention and isolates our efforts, helping people see and feel their interconnection might be one of the most important things we can do together.
TUNING Design Co. 