Waters Center for Systems Thinking

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Waters Center for Systems Thinking

Our mission is to increase the capacity of educators to deliver student academic & lifetime benefits through the effective application of systems thinking.

We help people understand what systems thinking is and how to incorporate the Habits, tools and concepts of systems thinking into their work and life to achieve desired results.

08/18/2026

Systems change doesn't move through the org chart. It moves through relationships.

The strongest networks inside an organization can often be the informal ones, held together by shared purpose and leaders who learn to recognize and tend those networks. Those leaders create the conditions for innovation to emerge by seeing differences of perspective as a resource.

When we teach leaders to prioritize emergence in complexity, we emphasize enabling leaders at all levels of the organization to lead from where they are, and to create horizontal networks for ideas to flow. What stood out most in our recent session with the leaders at Butler University was this exact dynamic: leaders at every level of the organization engaging with equal depth, regardless of title or position.

Curious what that could look like in your organization? Let's connect.

08/17/2026

What if you didn’t need to call it “systems thinking” to help someone think more systemically?

Every conversation—with a colleague, client, student, team, or community member—is an opportunity to help someone see more of the system, deepen their understanding, explore where leverage might exist, and design more thoughtful action.

That’s the power of a systems-informed coaching approach.

On September 16, we’re inviting AFC alumni to join us for a special, highly interactive workshop:
Coaching for Systems Thinking: From Conversation to Systems Change

Together, we’ll explore the Seven Practices of a Systems-Informed Coach and practice using deep listening, powerful questions, coaching techniques, and systems-thinking facilitation to help thinkers move from seeing → understanding → action.

📅 September 16
⏰ 8:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. Pacific
💻 Virtual | Exclusively for AFC Alumni
To register: Log in to your AFC account and click the big orange button in the upper right hand corner.

Come expand your AFC practice—and discover what becomes possible when every conversation becomes an opportunity for deeper systems thinking.

08/13/2026

🎉 Big news from the Waters Center for Systems Thinking!

We are thrilled to share that the Waters Center is now an official International Coaching Federation (ICF) Continuing Coach Education (CCE) provider!

Our Systems-Informed Coaching for Advanced Systems Thinking Facilitators program has been approved for ICF CCEs, which means ICF-credentialed coaches who participate in our Advanced Facilitator Credential (AFC) program can now earn continuing education hours for the coaching-related components of their learning.

And we’re especially excited about what this represents.

Coaches help people think. They ask powerful questions, evoke awareness, and create space for clients to see new possibilities. When coaches add a systems lens to that work, they can help clients look beyond individual events or challenges to notice patterns, relationships, perspectives, and structures that may be shaping what they experience.

That deeper seeing can unlock new insights, expand awareness, and reveal possibilities for meaningful action that might otherwise remain hidden.

We’re excited to bring the practices of professional coaching and systems thinking even closer together—and to equip more coaches and facilitators to help people see more, understand more, and discover where meaningful change is possible.

Here’s to growing the community of systems-informed coaches! 🌊

Are you an AFC alum? If you’d like to experience this updated coaching curriculum—and earn ICF CCEs if you’re an ICF-credentialed coach—we’re offering a special learning session just for AFC alumni on September 16.

👉 Register here: https://wcstcredential.org/dashboard/coaching-alumni-workshop

08/12/2026

By the time a crisis is obvious, the signals that predicted it have usually been there for a while. Most leaders miss them — not from lack of intelligence, but because a quiet signal is easy to dismiss in favor of a comfortable status quo.

Leaders who build the habit of identifying feedback loops turn pattern-noticing into a practiced skill. They stop treating early signs as noise and start treating them as data.

All too often, even experienced, leaders perceive the signal of resistance and stop short of seeing where there are opportunities for productive dialogue and movement forward toward the desired outcome.

By using the Ladder of Inference, we help leaders discern what the "resistor" might be noticing in the environment, and think of ways to re-shape generative dialogue.

If you want your leaders to catch the signal before it becomes the headline, we should talk.

08/10/2026

If you've spent years developing your systems thinking practice, you've probably noticed something.
Understanding systems is one challenge.
Helping others understand them is another.

The Advanced Facilitator Credential was created for this next stage of your journey. And today is the last day to apply for our next cohort starting in September!

You'll deepen your facilitation skills, strengthen your coaching practice, and learn how to create the conditions where systems thinking can take root in others.

Because the future belongs to leaders who don't just think systemically.
They help others do the same.

Learn more and apply TODAY: https://wcstcredential.org/

08/08/2026

Organizations become more adaptive when systems thinking is no longer limited to a handful of people.

Instead, it becomes part of how teams think, communicate, and make decisions together.

That's the purpose of the Advanced Facilitator Credential.

To prepare experienced systems thinkers to facilitate learning, coach others, and build lasting systems thinking capacity across organizations and communities.

Because shared capability creates sustainable change.

Learn more: https://wcstcredential.org/

08/07/2026

Certainty is a leadership illusion. Change one relationship in a system, and the ripple moves through the whole thing — whether anyone planned for it or not.

The leaders who navigate this well aren't the ones who eliminate uncertainty. They're the ones who can see the big picture clearly enough to expect the ripple, and tolerate the tension long enough for something useful to emerge from it.

We saw this recently with the leaders of Boldly Butler, Butler University's initiative to transform teaching, campus life, and the institution's future. In a two-day facilitated session, we watched leaders sit with genuine ambiguity — about their systems, their roles, and what needed to change — instead of rushing to resolve it. That willingness to stay in the grey is where real capacity gets built.

If your organization is navigating complexity and your leaders need more than a playbook for stability, let's talk.

08/05/2026

Leadership happens one conversation at a time.
A team meeting.
A coaching conversation.
A strategic planning session.
A difficult discussion.

The Advanced Facilitator Credential equips systems thinkers to facilitate conversations that reveal connections, challenge assumptions, and expand perspective.

Not by providing better answers.
By helping people ask better questions.

Because every meaningful systems change begins with a different conversation.

Learn more: https://wcstcredential.org/

08/03/2026

You've learned systems thinking.
You naturally notice patterns, relationships, unintended consequences, and long-term impacts.

But have you ever found yourself thinking...
"I can see it...but I'm struggling to help everyone else see it."
That's a different skill set.

The Advanced Facilitator Credential is designed for experienced systems thinkers who want to move beyond personal understanding and develop the ability to cultivate systems thinking in others.

You'll learn how to:
• Facilitate conversations that shift perspectives
• Ask questions that expand systems awareness
• Use systems thinking tools in real-time dialogue
• Coach individuals and teams toward meaningful action

Because organizational change doesn't happen when you think systemically.
It happens when everyone begins thinking systemically.

Learn more: https://wcstcredential.org/

08/01/2026

Exceptional facilitators don't just know how to think about systems.

They know how to help others see systems.

The Advanced Facilitator Credential develops expertise across three essential competency areas:
✓ Systems Thinking
✓ Facilitation
✓ Coaching

Together, these capabilities prepare you to lead richer conversations, navigate complexity with confidence, and support meaningful change across teams and organizations.

You'll practice, receive coaching, demonstrate competency, and graduate with a verifiable digital credential backed by Northern Arizona University.

Learn more about Cohort 12: https://wcstcredential.org/

Address

7090 N Oracle Road Suite 178/127
Tucson, AZ
85704

Website

https://www.waterscenterst.org/, https://wcstcredential.org/, http://thinkingtools.studio/

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