Literature Review on System Change

This literature review synthesises key insights from different traditions, disciplines and theorists, highlighting aspects most relevant for system change today

Why is it so hard to meaningfully change an economic system, even when that system isn’t serving the common good? And even when there are viable alternatives and strategies for change? Too often, well-crafted plans falter when confronted with the real-world complexity and entrenched interests of our most important economic systems. The Blue Whale Inquiry set out to understand why – and how to do better. As part of this we are learning from, and building on, the work of the many theorists and traditions that have grappled with similar questions: What are systems? What causes them to shift or to remain locked-in? And what kind of leadership does this require?

This literature review synthesises key insights from more than 20 theorists, highlighting aspects most relevant for system change today. Specifically for accelerating the transition to cleaner, fairer, and more prosperous economies. These insights include how systems are structured, how they evolve, the pace at which different elements shift, and how patterns of feedback, behaviour, and mindset reinforce or disrupt existing dynamics.

Our review draws on diverse traditions and disciplines – including Confucian, Buddhist and Indigenous worldviews, alongside mid-20th-century Western foundational thinkers, complexity theorists and contemporary thinkers. Together, these perspectives offer distinct yet complementary views on how systems behave and what it takes to transform them.

We conclude by introducing Systemiq’s Approach to System Change – Inspire, Overtake, Lead – a practical framework designed to empower changemakers at Systemiq and beyond. We situate this framework in the context of recent tools that have been developed to bridge from theory to action. Our framework is informed by the literature and the broader work of the Blue Whale Inquiry, including practitioner interviews, in-depth case studies, and practical insights drawn from Systemiq’s experience and that of our partners and broader community over the past decade.

We hope that this literature review will serve as a practical touchpoint for changemakers at Systemiq and beyond. It is both humbling and empowering to learn from the thinkers and traditions that have long sought to unravel the mysteries of system change. Understanding the divergences between their views, and the influence of their contexts on their thinking, reminds us that we too are shaped by the assumptions and circumstances of our time. Equally, seeing where they converge, sometimes across great distances in time and space, helps light our own path. There are no “right answers” to system change. But there are enduring features which prove important again and again. The role of participation. The nature of leadership. The relationship between top-down and bottom-up approaches to change.

By surfacing these and by understanding contemporary and historic approaches to system change, we can be much more deliberate in our approach, with a real focus on action. It is in this spirit – and with gratitude to the theorists, traditions and practitioners we have drawn upon – that we offer this review.