IT is driven by STEM culture and its technical imperative, enabling the creation of technically advanced products. The issue though is that software development is inherently a sociotechnical enterprise. And the social aspects of it are often undervalued, even overlooked. We write software with people for people and sustainable solutions for both us and the users can only be reached by jointly optimise the technical and the social.

In this talk we will explore an approach from social sciences called Open Systems Theory. By looking at the milestones that led to this conceptual framework, like replacing the machine view the world, discovering group dynamics, realising that individuals only grow in groups, defining people as open purposeful systems, democratisation of work, discovering the genotypical organisational design principles, and understanding how critical participative design is to lasting and sustainable solutions.

The goal is to show that this approach will not only helps us create a learning organisation where people thrive and technology operates closer to its potential, but also one that performs better in an increasingly complex and competitive environment.