A recurring theme in this book is that systems thinking encourages the development of perspective. As business schools broaden their scope to complex issues such as climate change and sustainable cities, we can find perspective from non-Western cultural traditions and how they consider concepts of the self, relationship with others and the world and the purposes of leadership.

Systems Leadership rooted in Western Worldview

In the Preface I noted that Western business schools are anchored in a postwar industrial tradition. Australian business schools are largely modelled on US schools which have prioritised ideas of operational efficiency, growth, profit and the strong-man leader. Some aspects of systems thinking and leadership are part of this tradition. Systems dynamics shares the mechanistic worldview of industrial-era management, assuming that systems can be modelled, understood, and adjusted for desired outcomes, similar to the control-oriented logic of operations research. Later applications resist this tradition by acknowledging that organisational and economic systems are more complex than simple cause-effect relationships suggest. However, SD was largely applied within the same industrial paradigm that sought to optimise existing systems rather than rethink them fundamentally.

Only later, as business schools began engaging with complexity theory and sustainability, did SD find wider application in addressing systemic challenges beyond corporate efficiency, such as climate change, urban planning, and health systems.

Can we challenge our western worldview?

Broadly speaking, many Non-Western traditions leadership is seen as an inherently relational and interconnected practice. These traditions foreground relationships, among people, nature, and the broader cosmos. The self, or “I,” is not an isolated entity but deeply embedded in a web of interdependence. This perspective aligns with systems thinking’s holistic focus while introducing richer dimensions of ethical stewardship, long-term sustainability, and respect for diverse voices. We will explore these ideas firstly through Indigenous Australian and Maori worldviews and also through a range of eastern traditions.

Indigenous Thinking: Relational Systems Leadership 

Australian Indigenous cultures offer profound insights into relational systems leadership through concepts like Country, kinship, and Law. Leadership is understood not as authority but as a responsibility to sustain the balance within dynamic systems of life.

Tyson Yunkaporta in his book Sand Talk (2020, p64) gives us a glimpse of this way of being (bold added):

In my community there is a phrase that is repeated daily— ‘Nobody boss for me!’ Yet at the same time, each person is bound within complex patterns of relatedness and communal obligation. Indigenous models of governance are based on respect for social, ecological and knowledge systems and all their components or members. Complex kinship structures reflect the dynamic design of natural systems through totemic relationships with plants and animals. Totems can also include other elements of these systems like wind, lightning, body parts and substances. The whole is intelligent, and each part carries the inherent intelligence of the entire system. Knowledge is therefore a living thing that is patterned within every person and being and object and phenomenon within creation. Respectful observation and interaction within the system, with the parts and the connections between them, is the only way to see the pattern. You cannot know any part, let alone the whole, without respect. You cannot come to knowledge without it. Each part, each person, is dignified as an embodiment of the knowledge. Respect must be facilitated by custodians, but there is no outsider-imposed authority, no ‘boss’, no ‘dominion over’. 

Tyson Yunkaporta, in Sand Talk (2019), further emphasises these principles, describing leadership as “story holding” and pattern recognition. Collaborative dialogue, or ‘yarning,’ becomes a method for co-creating knowledge, echoing participatory methods in critical systems thinking.

Similarly, Maori systems leadership revolves around whakapapa (genealogy) and kaitiakitanga (guardianship). Leaders are responsible for nurturing relationships with people, ancestors, and the natural world. Leadership is an act of stewardship, grounded in intergenerational thinking and reverence for the interconnectedness of all life. (Spiller, Barclay-Kerr & Panoho, 2015).

Other Non-Western Perspectives on Systems Leadership

A short survey of other non-Western traditions of culture, relationship and leadership also help us gain perspective on our own traditions and worldview.

Ubuntu (Southern Africa): Relational Leadership and Collective Well-Being

Ubuntu, meaning “I am because we are,” encapsulates the idea that the individual exists within a collective. Leadership emphasises shared responsibility and participatory decision-making to sustain community harmony. Leaders are custodians of relationships, viewing the system as a network of interdependent parts rather than isolated elements (Mbigi & Maree, 2005).

Confucian Thought (East Asia): Harmony and Virtue

Confucianism sees society as a web of relationships where harmony is achieved through ethical leadership. Leaders model virtues like benevolence and propriety to inspire alignment and balance within the system. Systems leadership demands integrity and the ability to harmonise systemic structures with moral principles (Ames & Rosemont, 1998).

Dharmic Traditions (South Asia): Balance and Service

In Hinduism and Buddhism, dharma represents the ethical duties necessary to maintain cosmic order. Leadership is seen as a service to the system, with an emphasis on sustaining balance and fulfilling moral obligations. Leaders must act as stewards of dynamic equilibrium, prioritising service and long-term stability. (Sharma, 2017).

References

1. Ames, R. T., & Rosemont, H. (1998). The Analects of Confucius: A Philosophical Translation. Ballantine Books.
2. Mbigi, L., & Maree, J. (2005). Ubuntu: The Spirit of African Transformation Management. Knowledge Resources.
3. Sharma, S. (2017). The Dharmic Leader: Leadership Development and Organizational Ethics in Hindu and Buddhist Traditions. Journal of Business Ethics, 145(3), 563-580.
4. Spiller, C., Barclay-Kerr, H & Panoho, J. (2015). Wayfinding Leadership: Groundbreaking Wisdom for Developing Leaders. Huia Publishers.
5. Yunkaporta, T. (2020) Sand Talk: An Inspirational and Accessible Book about How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World, Text Publishing Company, 2020.