About – STA

About Us

Systems Thinking Africa

Systems Thinking Africa is a vibrant women-led initiative with a global reach organisation which specializes in process facilitation and especially in areas of leadership and organizational development using systems thinking methodologies and approaches. We have consulted widely with numerous Corporates, Government and Non-governmental organizations in Europe and Africa around various aspects of capacity building. Our processes aim to enhance organisational viability by developing capacity in leadership as well as robust strategies in line with the organisational purpose. A major challenge in many organizations is that of breaking down operational and management silos that negatively impact on performance. This is especially the case in highly structured and hierarchical organizations as well as immediately after processes like mergers and acquisitions. Silos also tend to emerge in project teams where the emphasis in on tasks and achievement of milestones and targets.

The traditional way of managing challenges is treating them like problems that can be broken down into their constituent elements and solved. Increasingly people are discovering that this approach does not work for complex situations and instead often makes the situation worse. People are realizing that any intervention they make often results in unintended consequences that now have to be managed.

We work with our clients using action learning approaches as well as appreciative inquiry processes to better their ability to understand and manage the complex situations they face. We believe in finding where things are working well and using that energy to transform the areas that need change. We believe that the questions we ask are fateful and help create the future we want to see. Systems thinking for us then becomes not a methodology but a way of seeing wholeness in organizations and society. Our approach sets us apart in that while our client is the master of their content, we are specialists in process facilitation.

Our approach involves getting embedded into the world of our clients and together co-creating the futures they purpose to have. We provide tools and frameworks from the world of systems thinking to assist our clients make sense of the world around them

Managing Director

Thembela Njenga (MA Policy and Development, Hons Ind Psychology, Hons Education, BCom; Training in Coaching)

Thembela has extensive experience in senior management, women’s empowerment and economic justice. Having held senior management and Director roles, she is familiar with and passionate about journeying with leadersh in organisations to overcome the complex challenges organisations face in today’s world of work wile being adaptive to a changing context. She is a visionary and pioneer with a proven record of designing and running results driven programmes and campaigns both in South Africa and the rest of Africa. She has skills in coaching, personnel and financial management; capacity building; program and materials development; advocacy and policy; strategy development; fundraising and donor management; monitoring and evaluation.

Associates

Dr. Martin Reynolds

Biography Dr Martin Reynolds received his BSc (Hons) in Liberal Studies in Science at the University of Manchester in 1978, and late his PhD in International Development at the Institute of International Development Policy and Management (IDPM) at the University of Manchester in 1998. In the Interim he taught Science at senior secondary schools in […]

Samuel Njenga

I am an experienced and highly rated process facilitator having worked with many organisations in the areas of leadership development, change management, strategic alignment as well as in the organisational transformation and renewal. My interests include how organisations create and share knowledge; how to promote organisational learning as well as how to lead and manage change processes in a way that enhances individual and organisational performance. I enjoy working with organisations to enhance their viability and effectiveness.