Master’s Thesis SOD executive master’s
Nina Merete Berg
January 13, 2026
Abstract
This thesis explores facilitation as a central yet under-articulated phenomenon within Systems Oriented Design (SOD). While facilitation is widely practiced in SOD, it is rarely articulated as a core competence. Through reflective practice,
theoretical engagement, and systemic analysis, the thesis argues that facilitation is not merely supportive of SOD, but constitutive of it: to practice Systems Oriented Design is to facilitate. When this thesis speaks of facilitation, it does not refer to a set of techniques, events, or roles, but to an ongoing, situated practice — a praxeology — of enabling systems to engage productively with complexity. Facilitation is understood as a verb and phenomenon rather than a method: a way of acting from within systems to support movement, sensemaking, and change without collapsing complexity into premature solutions and chaos. The systems engaged in this work are understood to have a function or purpose, and facilitation is
oriented toward enabling them to continue doing what they were designed to do, even as their contexts, conditions, and constraints evolve.
The empirical and practical focus of the thesis is on work-related and social systems, including organizations, enterprises, public bodies, authorities, and institutional domains such as public pension systems, policing, welfare, and public service functions. While the findings may be relevant to other types of systems, their applicability is strongest in contexts where complexity is shaped by human interaction, social systems, institutional structures, and long-existing
systemic functions. Facilitation in this context unfolds over extended periods, often spanning years rather than isolated interventions. Its effectiveness is shaped by situational judgement, including attention to readiness, momentum, and the
appropriateness of action within an unfolding system. Facilitation is therefore less concerned with controlling outcomes than with sustaining the conditions under which meaningful change can emerge.
By foregrounding facilitation as a systemic intervention in its own right, this thesis positions facilitation as a necessary condition for ethical, effective, and scalable Systems Oriented Design. It argues for facilitation as a way of sustaining unfinishedness — enabling systems to remain capable of movement, learning, and adaptation — as a foundational practice for engaging with complex social systems in an ever-evolving world.