What Is Systems Thinking?

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Systems thinking focuses on trends that data reveals and then places these trends within the context of a world system model in order to understand where leverage points for changing the behavior of the system might reside. The goal in introducing any change is to create greater resilience and integrity in the system as a whole. Understanding any system’s leverage points and which ones are most likely to create greater integrity in the system, is vital to our ability to live sustainably without crashing and collapsing the Earth’s system. If we don’t achieve this, we threaten the future of our children. Confidence in doing this can come from the creation of a more accurate mental model of how the Earth system actually works. It requires a more complete mental picture of the connections and interdependencies between human population size, energy and its use and pollution/waste.A helpful way to gain an understanding of systems theory is to consider the following example. Are you part of a family? If so, you will know you live within a complicated and delicate web of family relationships. You will also instinctively know that each family member is capable of producing many unintended consequences through their actions that have the capacity to reverberate throughout that family’s “system”. The sheer complexity of the interchanges within that small group perhaps best explains systems thinking.Some of the introductory questions we can ask about the world system, comprising both the natural world and the human world are:
What are the interacting parts and processes of the system that create sustainability or collapse?

What are the right pathways to develop that will create better processes and behavior leading to greater integrity/resiliency within the system?

How can we use our knowledge of the existing system, to consciously create the future we want?
Tempting, as it is to use a reductionist approach to find connections between cause and effects, and to look at things in small and manageable chunks, the systems view operates by setting information and data gathered within a larger framework. Many existing environmental problems are with us because solutions adopted, have not taken into account, or even acknowledged, long-term consequences on a larger group of people.How do we change systems to get less of what we don’t want and more of what we do? This is where an understanding of leverage points in a system becomes important. Leverage points are places within a complex system where a small shift in one thing can produce big changes in everything. We understand intuitively where to find leverage points (for example in our world system, “growth” is a leverage point). However, we often try and push change in the wrong direction. A classic case is the current attempt to increase GDP growth to solve large environmental and social problems when rather, re-imagining different kinds of growth (and new measurements for these) is needed, along with accepting that negative growth in some parts of the system are necessary (for example, fishing exhausted or close to exhausted fish species in the oceans). Our mental model of growth as we now conceive it, is inadequate. Currently population and economic growth have environmental and social costs (poverty, and environmental destruction), which are not factored into classical economics (which limits its focus to economic profit and loss) creating distortion and unexpected consequences in the wider world.We currently problem solve below the level of complexity of the problems we are trying to solve. The human mind while able to understand the movement of behavior through time, prefers to freeze a problem and then dissect it. We approach problems from a linear view and begin to struggle when confronted with complex dynamic behavior that includes more than 2 or 3 dynamic variables. This is why systems constantly surprise us. System thinking tools and computer modeling can help.In systems thinking, we give up assumptions that someone is responsible for the problem encountered. Rather, problems are a result of the structural dynamics and behavior set up by the system itself. Systems thinking is understanding the relationships and patterns between the different components in a network of relationships. While psychologically it is more comfortable to find a scapegoat, no one deliberately creates these problems. They are systems problems. In other words they are undesirable characteristic behaviors produced by the very system structure we have unwittingly put in place. They only yield to change once we ask ourselves the question, what is the system? Once recognizing this, we can begin to look for ways to restructure.

Guide to Investing: Advice on Selecting the Best Type of Investments and Educational Resources

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Are you interested in investing but aren’t sure exactly where to start? Or are you someone who already does a bit of buying or trading and want a good, solid guide to investing that will help you make better decisions.It’s important to understand the common strategies, and part of this relies on knowing some of the differences in the asset classes. The term “asset class” simply refers to a group of similar investment types. Some people prefer to stick with one asset class while others are a lot more versatile. Starting out, it might be a good idea to stick with just a few similar investment types within the same asset class, and then consider expanding your portfolio as you get more experienced and knowledgeable.Investment Types to Look ForHere is a quick rundown of the different classes:• Fixed income or debt: The investor lends money to an institution (usually banks) or government and get interest in return. These investment types include CoDs and bonds.• Equities: Actually purchasing shares in something (stocks).• Real estate: Buying, owning, and ultimately selling a physical property when the time is right. You obviously aren’t required to live in or even visit the properties you invest in.• Cash and cash equivalents: The investor puts the money into an interest-paying savings account or trade currencies.• Commodities: Similar to real estate in that you would own physical things, except that it’s a “common” product, item, or resource that many people need, such as precious metals, fossil fuels, food, etc. You are not required to actually have them physically in your possession.• Derivatives such as futures: this means that you own trades themselves (options and futures), and the value of it depends on the underlying asset. This asset class can be complicated, so if you’re interested, you’ll need a detailed guide to investing in them.Guide to Investing in StocksIf you are interested in stocks, then you should join a good newsletter and resource program that offers all of the tools and guides you need for investing in the best stocks. There are a lot of so-called “experts” out there who claim to offer “top stock picks” but they all can’t be right. The REALLY GOOD, legitimate experts don’t give out their picks for nothing. This is why the best newsletters usually require a subscription.The best guide to investing – particularly with a long-term outlook – is Motley Fool. It’s a highly, HIGHLY recommended platform that includes newsletter subscriptions, resources, wealth management tools, and so forth. They are particular known for their top-notch stock picks.

What Makes a Logbook Loan More Suitable Than a Payday Loan?

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With the recent economic turmoil in the world, it’s little surprise that many people are struggling to find ways to get cash-in-hand quickly. For this, short-term loans have often fitted the bill perfectly.But as many banks have also been hit by the recession, they are increasingly wary of lending to consumers. As a result individuals are forced to seek alternative means for a cash loan.A market that cropped up to meet this need was the payday loan scheme. However, those that examine the terms and conditions of such loans carefully may in fact notice that a logbook loan is more suited to their needs, and comes with lower risks than a payday loan.What is a Logbook Loan?A logbook loan is a loan granted against your vehicle’s V5 document or “Logbook”. It is an easy method of loan as they do not check credit history. It is generally approved within a day and requires very less paperwork. Though it has a requirement, ie. the vehicle should be finance free and should not be more than 12 -13 years old. Still, it is considered as a better alternative to Payday Loans because of low interest rates and flexible repayment options.Here’s a few reasons that a logbook loan may be the more suitable option: 1. Interest rates are significantly reduced.Although payday loans may seem a quick-fix for cash in hand loan, many individuals fail to consider the high interest rates that such loans come with.Payday loans can sometimes come with APRs topping 4,000%, leaving borrowers paying back a substantially larger sum than they originally borrowed. It does little to help your cash flow stabilize, which is what loans are intended to do! If you don’t repay it quickly, you may find yourself facing a potentially debilitating debt.Logbook loans however, are secured against the worth of the borrower’s car, which generally means that the APRs are far less, meaning it’s a more manageable debt and easier to pay back.2. Potential for larger sums in loansWhile payday loans may hold an appeal in that they require virtually no collateral, leaving it as a no-strings attached type loan, if you already own a vehicle you have a high-value asset in your possession. This asset can be used to help obtain a logbook loan, which then in turn gives you access to a greater potential sum to loan.Although it depends on the value of your vehicle, logbook lenders may offer loans ranging from £200 up to £25,000. It doesn’t matter if you are considered to be self-employed, or if you have a less than stellar credit record. Your car is generally the second most valuable asset you would own, and you can make that asset work harder for you in securing a log book loan.3. Loan periods are more easily managedPayday loans are designed to be a quick-fix, that is a short-term solution. What that means, is you’ll have to repay the loan within a relatively short period of time. If the borrower cannot secure the funds to repay the loan, the interest quickly builds up. This leaves borrowers at times forced to take out a second loan merely to repay the first loan!Lenders offering logbook loans however, can set it up so that you can repay the debt over a far greater time period, anywhere from half a year up to three. In addition, borrowers can sort out a repayment plan to match their cash-flow needs, which guarantees you can pay back your debt in a timely and stress free fashion.

Supply Chain Finance & Reverse Factoring

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Supply Chain Finance can also be known as Supplier Finance or Reverse Factoring. The term “supply chain” in this context is used to refer to the network of organisations and activities involved with producing, distributing and paying for goods and services provided by one or more suppliers to a single customer. For example a large company being supplied by numerous smaller businesses. “Supply Chain Finance” refers to the provision of finance to a number of supplier businesses, within a single supply chain, under one umbrella arrangement that has been initially set up by the customer at the top of the supply chain.An example of Supply Chain Finance would be where a supermarket is purchasing products from a wide range of smaller suppliers. The supermarket will arrange a Supply Chain Financing agreement with a financier such that all of their suppliers have the option of accessing finance under the umbrella arrangement. This is often provided at competitive rates that reflect the size of the supermarkets business rather than the size of the individual supplier businesses. In this way, the suppliers benefit from the arrangement as they are able to access finance at much lower rates than they would typically be able to achieve in their own right.Some arrangements may be as simple as funding the outstanding sales invoice to the supermarket or similar large business, but in some cases there may be other services bolted onto the arrangement to help improve the management of the entire supply process.The Benefits of Supply Chain Finance
The benefits of Supply Chain Finance to the large business arranging it in respect of their suppliers is that they are able to enjoy credit periods from their suppliers. These are being funded at competitive rates that their individual suppliers may not have been able to achieve in their own right. This will encourage their suppliers to continue to provide that level of credit when they may not otherwise have been able to afford it.The key benefit from the perspective of the suppliers within the arrangement is that they are able to access finance at rates that would normally be reserved for businesses that are much larger, for example, national or global supermarket chains.In recent times we have seen a few examples of this type of arrangement being established by some major companies and these types of arrangements can be provided by a number of funders that also provide more traditional invoice finance and factoring facilities.Alternative to Supply Chain Factoring & Reverse Factoring
However, a Supply Chain Finance or Reverse Factoring arrangement may not always be the right answer for a particular supplier as there can often be other issues that cause a supplier to seek a facility that is independent of their customer. An example might be not wishing their financing to be connected to their customer. The take up of a Supply Chain Finance arrangement may not be unanimous amongst the suppliers to a particular business and each situation needs to be reviewed on its own merits and compared with other options available independently within the market.The Future
Although Supply Chain Finance appears to have taken off relatively slowly within the UK so far there are examples of new arrangements emerging and the product is likely to feature increasingly within the Invoice Finance market.

Why Most Financial Professionals Simply Don’t Get It When it Comes to Social Networking

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Four Key Reasons Most Financial Professionals Don’t “Get It” When It Comes To Social NetworkingMost of the Financial Professionals I have talked to seem to be saying the same thing: “I really don’t get this social networking thing”. Well if you don’t get it, my strong suggestion is…YOU BETTER GET IT!Why? Because there are two things we know to be true:1. PEOPLE TALK2. WE KNOW EXACTLY WHERE THEY ARE TALKING THESE DAYSAll you have to do is take a look at these eye-opening growth statistics and you can clearly see why this new opportunity for your business simply cannot be overlooked or ignored:
Facebook has over 300 Million users, and about 600,000 join every day

50% of Facebook users are online every single day
The two fastest growing segments are people ages 35 to 55 and women ages 50 and older

LinkedIn, MySpace, and Twitter have over 150 Million users
Twitter’s growth rate is currently over 750%

IT JUST MAKES SENSE:If you take a look at the business relationships you treasure the most, they mainly consist of your family, friends, loved ones, co-workers and many other people who directly or indirectly support the growth of your business. The truth is that one of the key ingredients to a successful business is the ability to build and maintain high-quality, meaningful, and credible relationships with their clients and within their community. I’m sure this sounds familiar, because THIS IS THE ESSENCE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING!WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU AND YOUR BUSINESS?If used properly, social networking becomes an excellent supplemental marketing strategy, serving as the perfect complement to your existing business plan. The reason why is because it is an extremely low-cost way to expose yourself and your business to the most popular places on the Internet, which directly connects you to the various communities, organizations, and groups that you care about.From what I can conclude, there are essentially five key benefits:1. Increase your business exposure and visibility2. Improve your reputation and credibility3. Increase brand identity and recognition4. Enhance awareness of your products or services5. Provide the opportunity to build a network of people and see this network exponentially growth…because PEOPLE TALK are constantly hearing from and talking about YOUNOW FOR THE BAD NEWS:Many studies, including ones in which I have personally conducted, prove that most financial professionals simply don’t have what they need to be truly successful in Social Networking, and I have broken all of these details that should hopefully help each of us:FOUR KEY REASONS MOST FINANCIAL PROFESSIONALS MAY NEVER REALLY “GET IT” 1. DESIRE:
Most financial professionals enjoy doing key things in their spare time that they are passionate about, such as their careers, hobbies, family, faith, sports, traveling, or whatever makes them genuinely happy.
Surveys show that Social Networking is at the bottom of this list of passions.
Most professionals today lack the time, skills, and most importantly, the inclination (or that “burning desire”) to build, cultivate, and maintain a successful social network…particularly on an ongoing basis. In other words, this is not something most financial professionals “choose to do”, but rather they feel like the “have to do it”.
Every Social Network expert will tell you that success is largely driven in social networking through your ability to constantly offer new, valuable, and useful information and ideas. In fact, this is by far, their biggest challenge in working with their clients, since most don’t have enough content and materials to continuously educate your social networks.
The reality is that most financial professionals are not gifted or skilled writers or editors, not only for their own industry, but particularly in designing pieces that fit well within the guidelines and purposes of social networks
Also, most financial professionals are not familiar with exactly what to write about, what topics to write about, how often to write about new topics, and how often to submit this information to these networks.
2. TECHNOLOGY:
Studies prove that most professionals who are 40 years old or older are at a big disadvantage, mainly because we didn’t grow up in the “computer era”. Therefore, we were never afforded the luxury of growing up in their early years to capitalize on the advent of the Internet and the every-growing capabilities of computers and technology.
The reason this makes this particularly challenging for most financial professionals is because most social experts will tell you Social Networking requires at least 10-15 hours of work each week, along with the aforementioned high level of computer and Internet skills.
Purchasing and maintaining all of this technology and computer equipment can be very expensive, as it almost always includes things like training, software, security, database backup, tech support, etc.
There is a never-ending need and requirement to ensure you are constantly staying updated on the newest and most innovative state-of-the-art technologies, which can also add to additional time, expenses, and training.
These social networks are growing exponentially in size and complexity. In fact, today there are over 70 Social Networking websites. This poses two big challenges:
1. It makes it much more difficult to keep up with all of the latest technologies associated with each social network, like blogging, tweeting, uploading, scanning, managing databases, navigating software, keyword tagging, search engine optimization, filtering spam and viruses, and much more.

2. It becomes vitally important that you know which of these Social Networks are worthwhile for you and your business, and which ones are not a good fit. This is an extremely important, and yet often overlooked, point about the number of social networks you belong to.

Many financial professional think they need to be involved in “as many of these networks as possible so they can get the most exposure” when it fact, the reality is the most important focus should be on the quality of these social networks…and NOT the quantity”!
3. INTEGRATION:
If you can believe this, even though most of us have heard of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and maybe a few others, there are approximately 70 different Social Networking websites today…and growing by leaps and bounds!
The good news is that this has brought about many new strategies and cutting-edge technologies that are specifically designed to help integrate and coordinate these social networks…which essentially allows them all to be able to “talk to each other”, and share information. This is being made available because it helps to minimize your efforts to send a message out to multiple networks, and also attempts to eliminate mass-duplication of content.
The bad news is that, with the exception of a tiny minority, most financial professionals are simply not interested (or capable) of investing the time, training, resources, to keep pace with all these new tools.
The other harsh reality is that most financial professionals simply don’t have the time, desire, and/or the quick and easy access to keep up with all of these new tools that can help them coordinate their efforts among this wide range of social networks.
One thing we know for sure is that one of the most critical ingredients to Social Networking success is making sure each of your multiple networks are working in harmony together, saying the same message at the same time. Given the current and future levels of growth in these networks and technology, this dramatically decreases the probability that financial professionals are likely to create the best possible results from these social networks unless they are all simultaneously working together.
4. TIME
The truth is Financial Professionals are not any different from other professionals. They too have a huge struggle to find that “perfect” balance between their everyday life events such as their career, marriage, friends, social events, kids and their multiple events, health and fitness, hobbies, sports, email, etc.
Today’s difficult economic environment has clearly played a big factor in making it even more challenging for Financial Professionals to find that “proper” balance in our lives between family, work, and other “life events”. These restrictions even further limit our ability to set aside a few hours each day to work on these social networks.
The harsh reality is that Social Networking requires a serious and dedicated effort and many hours of your personal time every day as a result of these sophisticated networks, technologies, and constant communication with a large number of changing people.
Among some of the extremely time-consuming Social Networking tasks are: regularly writing emails/blogs/tweets/updates, constantly creating target marketing campaigns, joining a large number of groups and networks, contributing regular and valuable information to these groups and networks, learning how to adapt to unique groups of people, regularly researching and provide new and current content, closely monitoring and managing an increasing group of friends or followers, working in harmony with the many different social networks, keeping up-to-date with the newest and most innovative technologies, etc.
IS EVERY FINANCIAL PROFESSIONAL DOOMED FOR SOCIAL NETWORKING FAILURE? Of course not! However, unless you are one of the rare few financial professionals with an extensive background in technology, a vast array, access, and the ability to keep updated with the newest and most innovative technology tools and resources, an extensive understanding of all these 70+ social networks, and which one is right for you, a large amount of free time, and a burning passion to become a social networking expert, your best bet is to choose one of two routes:1. Set your expectations low, work at often as you can, and just have fun.2. An alternative is to seek the help of the wide array of social networking companies who can help do the large majority of this for you. This frees up much of your time, gives you the ability to maximize your results and efficiencies, and can also dramatically expand your social network and business opportunities.MY PERSONAL SOCIAL NETWORKING STORY:I decided to take advantage of the second option above. I hired a professional company who does this for a small monthly fee. Like many of you, I am busy and cheap, so my focus was on paying a small monthly cost, having NO long-term commitment, and having almost all of the work done for me. And so far, I have been extremely pleased with the professional support and progress I have made!Granted I’ve only been doing this for about two months now, but if you look at the number of connections I have made, the people I have been introduced to or connected with, and the people that have contacted me, it is truly amazing. Other benefits include joining multiple networks of people and groups, “branding” my name/firm/products/services, and also developing partnerships and relationships that are extremely valuable.HOW DID I FIND THE “RIGHT” PROFESSIONAL HELP?I performed extensive research on what types of professional Social Networking Companies are out there today, and who are among the industry leaders. I looked at everything including cost, contractual commitments, what would be required on my part, and what could I expect. I finally chose a company when I saw an impressive interview with their President on Fox News who worked as a Business Coach and Social Media Specialist for major celebrities and corporations for over 25 years..I strongly suggest if you decide to seek professional help that, like I was, you do some extensive research on your own. With the geometric growth potentials that lie ahead in this great new business opportunity, this is an extremely important decision. Or, in an effort to save you valuable time, I am happy to provide each of you the findings of my results, the company I am currently using, as well as several companies I would also suggest you look into, and which I feel comfortable recommending. So by all means, please don’t hesitate to call or email me if I can help in any way.I hope I was able to help you see why most Financial Professionals not only “don’t get it”, but even if they think they do, it is very unlikely they are “getting the most out of it”. And if you go back and reread everything I talked about above, it should be very easy to understand why most financial professionals are simply not cut out for this kind of stuff…for a wide variety of reasons.I can honestly tell you that for me personally, this whole Social Networking world has opened my eyes to a new way of growing my business that has extended far beyond my wildest dreams. And the truth is, just a few months ago I really “didn’t get it” at all.So the morale of the story is this; most financial professionals are just like me. They don’t really “get” how social networking TRULY works, they probably never will, and their best bet is to work with a professional. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for.