About the Book
Systems thinking capability has never been more critical – or more elusive. The Systems Synergy makes it operational by integrating three methodologies that unlock what none achieves alone: LEGO® Serious Play® creates visibility, The Fifth Discipline provides strategic framework, and Dialogue generates transformation depth.
Together, they develop the four human intelligences AI cannot replicate: individual meaning-making, relational trust, collective wisdom, and systems intelligence.
Two revolutions are reshaping leadership
Everyone sees AI. Almost nobody sees the second.
For 35 years, Peter Senge’s The Fifth Discipline has inspired millions with its vision of learning organisations – yet systems thinking remained frustratingly abstract. Leaders understood what they needed to become but not how to get there.
The Systems Synergy reveals the breakthrough:
The Fifth Discipline provides the strategic framework that gives systems thinking direction and coherence.
The LEGO® Serious Play® Method makes invisible systems tangible through physical building that enables democratic participation.
Dialogue in the tradition of David Bohm creates transformation depth that embeds learning into changed behaviour.
Whilst most organisations race to adopt AI, the wisest leaders develop the distinctly human capabilities that determine strategic direction, create meaning algorithms cannot generate, and see systemic wholes no algorithm can synthesise.
Drawing on 10 years of practice and hundreds of workshops, this book reveals why conventional approaches keep falling short, what genuine integration requires, and how to build systems thinking capability that scales beyond facilitation dependency.
Not aspirational theory. Practical methodology proven in practice.
Who This Book Is For
If you’re navigating complexity that resists conventional approaches, this book provides the practical methodology you’ve been seeking.
Business Leaders and Senior Executives
Organisational Development Professionals
Leadership Learning Champions
Systems Thinking Professionals & Educators
About the Author
Over 25 years, Sean Blair has designed and facilitated strategic workshops for organisations from Google and Microsoft to charities navigating society’s most challenging contexts, with the last decade focused on making systems thinking operationally practical. Through SeriousWork—the training practice he founded—3,000 facilitators have been trained globally, and his four previous books have become foundation texts for practitioners worldwide.
What will you learn?
THE SYSTEMS SYNERGY aims to give you the experience of building systems thinking capability that persists after workshops end—capability your teams can apply independently to future challenges.
Develop four irreplaceable human intelligences
Make systems thinking operational
Add systems thinking capability
Book Reviews
Our Latest Book
THE SYSTEMS SYNERGY
Three methodologies. One breakthrough integration. The practical systems thinking capability organisations need in the AI age.
302 pages
For 35 years, systems thinking remained frustratingly abstract. This book reveals how three methodologies integrate to create the capability organisations desperately need in the AI age.
£15.00
Our other books
We have written four other books about facilitation and change, find out more about these on our sister website at Serious.Global
BOOK 1
SERIOUSWORK
How to Facilitate Workshops using LEGO® Serious Play®
BOOK 2
MASTERING
Mastering LEGO® Serious Play®. 44 Facilitation Techniques.
BOOK 3
ONLINE
How to Facilitate the LEGO® Serious Play® Method ONLINE
BOOK 4
LEARNING
Building Better Learning using the LEGO® Serious Play® Method