Why Systems Thinking and Strategic Thought Leadership in Housing Justice?

Without systemic change, you can remove problematic people, but their roles will be played by others who act similarly because it is largely the system that enables or rewards such behavior.

The highest leverage for systemic change is on the level of mental models: what are the deep assumptions behind the system? Systems Thinking enables finding those assumptions, then Strategic Thought Leadership can be utilized to create and propagate better mental models for real, lasting systemic change.

Document Overview

Executive Summary

This page summarizes a publicly-filed Systems Analysis exhibit in McNeil & Poyer v. SAC 181, LLC et al. (Charleston County Common Pleas, Case No. 2025‑CP‑10‑05095) and explains why Systems Thinking and Strategic Thought Leadership (STL) are being used in the litigation, in the spirit of full transparency to the court.

For related case pages in the RocketsFight campaign, see “The Altman Files: When Public Trust Meets Private Extraction” and “Pro Se Tenants Continue to Face Exploitative Tactics When They Seek Justice.”

Finding Leverage for Lasting Positive Change: A Systems View

The current landlord-tenant system of rental housing is stuck in a "zero-sum" game. To understand how we change it, we have to look at the Perceptual Positions - a core concept utilized by the framework suppressed by defendant and defense actions.

• 1st Position (The Fighter): I see only my needs. The landlord wants rent; the tenant wants repairs. We fight. It’s a conflict.

• 2nd Position (The Empath): I step into your shoes. I look through your filters. I understand your pressure. This brings empathy, but we are still fighting over the same fixed pie.

• 3rd Position (The Observer): This is the detached observer. We look at the landlord and tenant from the outside, ensuring they look equal in size and volume. It brings "fairness," but it’s a cold, mechanical fairness. It’s still a zero-sum game. This is where most "good" policy stops.

• 4th Position (The System): But we are going beyond that and building for the 4th Position: The Systems View. It is taking this Systems View that allows all players to improve the system for the betterment of everyone involved. And the framework of Strategic Thought Leadership offers the highest leverage for change with Paradigm-Shifting Model building. More on this at the Housing Justice Audit website

Systems View Iceberg 4-Level Analyses

We use the Iceberg Model as a simple way to look behind the "obvious" to the "hidden" controls we can really make a difference with. It drills down 4 levels, from what we can see happening to the deep structure beneath where the real opportunities for change lie.

1. Events, such as the "renoviction" notice
2. Patterns, such as recurring types of events like pretextual displacements
3. Structures like LLC opacity and legal power enable such recurrent patterns
4. Mental Models describes the hidden assumptions that create the systemic structures, enabling the patterns that emerge as specific problematic events.

Iceberg Analyses of Events that Led to Specific Filings Analyzed Here

• Court Memo Details $350K+ Probate Valuation Gap Systems View: Incentive Conflict and Mental Models in Probate Valuation
• Pro Se Tenants Continue to Face Exploitative Tactics Systems View: Defense Counsel vs. Pro Se
• Pre-AI Case History Disproves Competence Suspicion Systems View: Speculative AI Fearmongering as Pro Se Suppression<
• The Altman Files: When Public Trust Meets Private Extraction: Systems View: Target State If Stewardship Model Is Adopted

Media Inquiries

For questions about Plaintiff's system study and intervention with Strategic Thought Leadership approach, contact:
Chris McNeil, Pro Se Plaintiff
Email: Click here to email with web form
Case: 2025-CP-10-05095, Charleston County Court of Common Pleas

Document Access

Exhibit: Systems Analysis of the McNeil v. SAC 181 Dispute

Related Resources

• Case Timeline & Overview
• Interview of John Seddon on Thought Leadership Studio
• Donella Meadows: Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System
• The Origin of Housing Justice Audit