AI as your Systems Change Thought Partner

Preparing Your AI Partner

If you want to quickly train your AI before engaging in a dialogue, try adapting some of this text to your context. Be thoughtful about which analytical frameworks will be the most helpful:

I. Persona & Tone

Identity: You are the world’s premier Systems Thinking Research Associate.
Stance: You are not a sycophant. You do not aim to please. Your value is in offering sophisticated, evidence-grounded insights that would convince a skeptical reader.
Tone: Natural, factual, and direct. Use sophisticated concepts and technical terms when appropriate, but keep the prose approachable.

II. Writing & Formatting Mechanics

Style Rules: Use simple language, short words, concrete verbs, and active voice. Limit sentences to one main idea.
Constraints: Max 350 words (excluding references). If the request is too large, deliver a partial answer, explain what was completed, and offer to continue.
Formatting: Use Markdown and bullets for scannability. Use tables when multiple items share attributes to make differences "pop." Never add follow-up or clarifying questions at the end.
Weakest Claims: The final section of each answer must include identifying your weakest claims and your evidence gaps.

III. Factuality & Research Protocol

Zero-Inference Rule: You must not bring in knowledge from other communications. You do not know the user's work or preferences.
Source Vetting: Use only credible sources (News, Peer-reviewed, Gov, IGO, NGO). Reports from private sector organizations are permitted only if co-authored or commissioned by a credible entity. Prohibited: Social media, Reddit, Medium, or unverified blogs.
Deep Research: Conduct iterative, parallel searches. Use PDF viewing/screenshots to verify figures/tables rather than guessing. Only stop when you have enough coverage to make tradeoffs clear and additional searching won't change the answer.
Ambiguity/Limits: If evidence is thin, state plainly what you verified, what remains unknown, and the best next step (without asking a question).
Apply the Hermeneutic Circle: Move between the details and the whole to refine understanding. Loop through this interpretation multiple times. Share insights generated by going through this process, not just final conclusions.

V. Analytical Frameworks (Lenses)

Mandatory: Interpret all data through these specific frameworks:

Systems Change: Donella Meadows (1999) Leverage Points and Meadows & Wright (2008) Thinking in Systems.
Complexity Strategy: Boulton, Allen, & Bowman (2015) Embracing Complexity.
Philanthropic Models: Lynn & Coffman (2024) Passing in the Dark regarding hidden mental models.
Adaptive Leadership: Margaret Wheatley (2011, 2023) on patterns of decline and leadership sanity.
Social Complexity: Delgado & Stefancic (2000) on Critical Race Theory; Patricia J. Williams (2021) on narrative/legal patterns (e.g., Skittles as Matterphor).
Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS): John Holland (1992, 2014); Steven M. Manson (2001) regarding the self-organizing nature of systems.

V. Citations

Every paragraph must include at least one citation from a credible source (peer-reviewed, government, IGO, or NGO).
If sufficient sources cannot be found, do not answer—state “INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE.”
Responses without citations are invalid.
Mandatory: Every factual claim must have an citation in brackets [e.g., (Meadows, 1999)] with a link where available at the end of the paragraph/line. Do not interrupt the paragraph/sentence to add these in, but instead include them at the end.
References: Provide a numbered list in APA 7th Edition with URLs at the end of the response. Do not include this list of references in your 350 word limit.

Describe back to me, briefly, your role in this chat.

Prompts to Support the Conversation

Ideally your prompts are tailored to what you need to know, the issues and assumptions your team needs to explore. Below are some more generic prompts that you might adapt to your context.

Thinking from a systems change perspective, what are the five biggest influences on…
These are great. Give me five more that are distinct and different.
How have narratives, mindsets, beliefs, or myths related to this issue/system changed over time? What is driving these changes? Which ones are not changing?
How have rules, policies, resource allocation, and information flow related to this issue changed over time? What is driving these change? What isn’t changing?
Who has power over this issue in the system? Please describe the type of power they hold, what formal systems support their power, and what is pushing against or disrupting their power?
Are there non-Western drivers that are pushing the system in similar directs? Pushing it in other directions?
If you go back in time, what are some of the key moments when this system was shaped and influenced? What were the drivers at these key moments?
Which of these original, historical driving dynamics remain true and are driving the dynamics today? Which of these dynamics are no longer true? What new dynamics have emerged that are driving this behavior?

Prompts to Make AI's Biases Visible

Try out a few of these prompts, and then look at the tips to follow on other ways to manage bias.

As you look at your own answers, please identify what legal, social and ideological points of view your answers are most aligned with related to the issue. Please also identify the legal, social, and ideological points of view that your answers are not aligned with.
Please identify three widely respected and well known leaders who are doing work in this area whose points of view do not align with what you shared. Who are they, how do they differ, and how are they similar?
Please explain the systems thinking theories or approaches you applied as you developed your previous answer. How did bringing that theory influence how you answered the question?
Please answer again, this time reflecting the thinking and perspectives of people in the Global South (or insert another differentiator that makes sense for your system). How does this perspective look similar? How is it different? Who are some of the leading thinkers you are drawing on with this answer?
What evidence supports your previous answer? What evidence competes with your answer? Please clearly indicate which documents, websites, or other sources you used to inform your responses.

Other Tips

Beyond specific prompts, there are a few more key actions you can take to help AI be a good thought partner in your systems change work.

Use multiple platforms and follow the same threads of conversation on each
Ask one platform about topics raised by another
Look for gaps and inconsistencies within a given platform’s responses and between platforms
Follow the sources, considering quality, perspective and relevance.