Resources
Research papers, presentations and reports
Relational Public Services
O’Donnell, J., Lowe, T., Eichsteller, G., & O’Neill, A. (2026, March 24). Reframing public services in Ireland as a relational practice. PublicPolicy.ie.
O’Donnell, J., (2026). Making Relational Public Services work using systemic thinking, Presentation to Systems Thinking, Systems Practice Conference, SCiO, IFSR, OR Society, University of Hull.
Systemic Leadership
I worked with the Scottish Government to raise capability across the public service to work more systemically and collaboratively together, This paper was developed after running masterclasses and training programmes for senior leaders. It is designed to share some concepts informed by systems thinking to support a systems-informed lens to public-facing work. It puts practitioner-leader at the centre of practice and encourages readers to reflect critically on personal positionality, as well as the lens used to understand and intervene in complex issues.
Virtual Disability Services
O’Donnell, J., Desmond, D., & MacLachlan, M. (2024). Learning from innovative staff practices that led to virtual disability services using the lens of Complex Adaptive Systems. Disability & Society, 1-26.
Systemic Constellations
Systemic approaches to pandemic prevention, UNEP
Williams, B, O’Donnell, J., Madden, K, Crump, L, Blanc, J. (2023) Systemic thinking and practice: A practical Guide to Nature 4 Health's scoping work, Nature4Health, United Nations Environmental Programme. https://nature4health.org/resources-2.
The future of work & Disability
Disability and labour market integration: Policy trends and support in EU Member States
How to…
Rich Pictures
Drawing Rich Pictures is an effective way to work with groups to explore the interrelationships between different structures and processes within a given situation and at the same time give space for different perspectives to emerge.
You can read about applying rich pictures here.