Do systems exist? A conversation - Adam Walls & John Flach - Freev3
Early 2022, Adam Walls reached out to John Flach and Fred Voorhorst with an idea; make Systems Thinking more accessible to a wider audience. By that time, John and Fred had already built a long-standing collaboration that began in the late 20th century when John, a visiting professor from the U.S., and Fred, then a Ph.D. student in the Netherlands, bonded over their shared interest in ecological perception and control theory. Years later, their mutual fascination led to a book, self-published in 2016 as "What Matters: Putting Common Sense to Work" and later refined into "A Meaning Processing Approach to Cognition" (2020) as part of the Resources for Ecological Psychology Series.
A unique feature of these books was the use of graphics and cartoons to illustrate and amplify the ideas expressed. It seems that a well-place cartoon (and a bit of humor) can sometimes do more for pedagogy than a hundred academic citations. Over the years, feedback confirmed that these visuals weren’t just fun but actually helped readers grasp complex ideas about cognition and meaning-making. John and Fred's ongoing collaborations on blogs and social media debates resulted in the self-published "Exploring the Strange Dynamics of Experience" (2024), as a rich illustrated collection of their musings and insights.
Adam was one of the people who saw and appreciated the social media posts. But rather than just hitting "like" and moving on, he reached out to explore a possible collaboration. A business consultant with a strong admiration for Systems Thinkers like Russell Ackoff and Kenneth Boulding, Adam had already developed course materials outlining Systems Principles, to introduce systems thinking to the business leaders he advised. Now, he was wondering if John and Fred would be interested in turning those materials into something more? Maybe even a book?
John was intrigued. He had long believed that General Systems Thinking provided the right lens for asking the right questions about human cognition and expertise. Meanwhile, Fred, ever the visual thinker, had his own vision: a book where graphics weren’t just decorative doodles, but an integral, structured path guiding the reader through the ideas.
And so, the long, winding, and occasionally maddening journey of book creation began. Important to note is that at the beginning, Fred and John only knew Adam through video chats and email threads. John was in the U.S., while Fred and Adam were both in Switzerland, though that wasn’t as convenient as it sounded. Adam lived in Zurich though working in the UK while Fred, on the other hand, lived in the south of Switzerland but worked in Zurich. Even on the same continent, geography still had a sense of humor. And so, from different corners of the world (and through the magic of technology), our collaboration took shape, one video chat and mildly existential debate at a time.
At the heart of our early discussions was Adam’s outline of Systems Principles. The conversations were lively, but we quickly realized we each came at this from very different angles. John, the academic, framed everything in theory and research. Adam, the consultant, was all about practicality and real-world impact. Fred was the skeptic, challenging assumptions and pushing us to clarify and simplify our language. Unsurprisingly, this meant progress was slow and difficult with multiple false starts.
A breakthrough came when Fred took Adam’s course materials, reimagined them as a walk through Zurich, and produced an illustrated journey that became the book’s backbone. This walk gave structure to an otherwise sprawling discussion, turning Zurich’s landmarks into guideposts to help us (and hopefully our readers) navigate an abstract and sometimes bewildering intellectual landscape.
Wrestling this book into existence, our distinct perspectives never merged into a single, harmonious voice. Adam remains the consultant, focused on practice and organizational success. John remains the academic, forever searching for a unified theoretical framework. And Fred lurking in the background of his illustrations, still skeptical, making sure we don’t take ourselves too seriously.
What emerged is not a book of answers, not a foolproof guide to success or a neatly packaged framework. Instead, it’s a conversation, a dialogue between three people grappling with the complex organizations they’ve studied, worked in, and lived in. We invite you to join us, not as passive readers but as active participants. Consider our perspectives in the context of your own experiences. Most importantly, don’t take our words as final. Our hope is that by inviting others to take this walk, the conversation will broaden and new vistas will emerge. If this book succeeds, it won’t be a function of what we think we know, but rather a function of our eagerness to engage with you to continue exploring a complex world.
Hard copy available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F6NLVJ4S
Free pdf is available here:
Do systems exist? A conversation - Adam Walls & John Flach - Freev3