Readable atlas · Release 0.35
David Ing
Systems researcher, educator and practitioner whose work connects service systems, systems thinking education, pattern language, systems changes and the documentation of systems lineages.
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Summary
Ing’s public work includes service-systems research, systems-changes learning, teaching and documentation of systems scholarship. The linked source records identify the basis and limits of this account.
Implications for practice
The atlas needs lineages that are documented rather than merely asserted. Ing’s publication archives, teaching records and ISSS work connect contemporary practice to longer systems traditions while also contributing his own approaches.
Key distinctions
- service systems are relational rather than reducible to service transactions
- systems changes are not assumed to follow unfreeze-change-refreeze
- documented association is weaker than demonstrated intellectual influence
- systems traditions are plural and historically situated
Historical development
- ISSS leadership and systems-sciences community
- service systems science
- systems thinking education
- pattern-language research
- Systems Changes Learning Circle
Ideas it depends on
- systems sciences
- service science
- Gregory Bateson’s ecological epistemology
- Christopher Alexander’s pattern language
- learning and action inquiry
Further developments
- service systems thinking teaching
- Systems Changes Learning
- pattern-language experiments for services
- lineage-rich public systems archives
Connections to practice
- teaching systems thinking
- learning circles
- service-system inquiry
- public documentation of conferences and sources
Common confusions
- Documented association is not by itself evidence of intellectual influence.
Further checks
- Add more independent scholarship evaluating the service-systems and systems-changes contributions.
Recorded connections
Check the wording, direction, scope, sources, and status of a connection before relying on it.
Pattern Manual for Service Systems Thinking was authored by David Ing
Status: accepted · Relation: authored by
Limited to the named sources. Documentary connection, conceptual influence, teaching use and effectiveness are distinct claims.
Locator: Release 0.15 public sources
David Ing develops a documented strand of Service systems thinking
Status: accepted · Relation: developed
Authorship and development are established from Ing's own publication record; this does not establish sole authorship of the wider field.
Locator: Coevolving Publications index, Service Systems section; Pattern Manual paper, title, abstract and pp. 12-14
David Ing develops and publishes Systems Changes Learning
Status: accepted · Relation: developed
These first-party records establish Ing's authorship and formulation, not independent validation of the approach.
Locator: 2023 author record, abstract and citation; published article pp. 11-73; 2022 Systems Changes presentation
- When Unfreeze-Move-Refreeze Isn’t Working (checked)
- Systems Changes Learning: Recasting and reifying rhythmic shifts (checked primary author record)
David Ing maintains Coevolving Innovations
Status: accepted · Relation: maintains
Limited to the named sources. Documentary connection, conceptual influence, teaching use and effectiveness are distinct claims.
Locator: Release 0.15 public sources
David Ing uses Systems lineage documentation
Status: accepted · Relation: uses
Limited to the named sources. Documentary connection, conceptual influence, teaching use and effectiveness are distinct claims.
Locator: Release 0.15 public sources
Sources and passage locators
- David Ing — Coevolving Innovations publications (checked)
- David Ing — ISSS presidential address (checked)
- Pattern Manual for Service Systems Thinking (checked)
- When Unfreeze-Move-Refreeze Isn’t Working (checked)
- Systems Changes Learning: Recasting and reifying rhythmic shifts (checked primary author record)
- Knowing Better via Systems Thinking (checked)
Cite this entry
Taylor, B. P. (2026). David Ing. The Necessary Tangle, release 0.35. https://transduction.systems/entries/person_david_ing/
Include the release and review status when you quote or reuse this account.