Critical Systems Thinking: The Only Solution to Organisational and Societal Crises

It has never been more obvious to me, and to others I am sure, that many of the systems we depend on are broken or seriously flawed. As a consequence, levels of prosperity have stagnated for many, and we are all threatened by environmental disasters, economic crises, pandemics, healthcare systems in collapse, mass migration problems, and political upheaval.?

We, and the systems we depend on, operate under conditions of increasing complexity and uncertainty. We must remember that these conditions are mostly of our making. They are the result of badly designed, and badly managed, systems and organisations – businesses, governments, regulators, professional bodies, universities, etc. In short, the institutions we reply on to manage the systems we depend on are failing us. And, even well-run systems can have adverse consequences on other parts of the larger systems they are part of.

We are faced with the consequences every day, when we watch the news and read of another crisis. Or when we read of yet another summit of world leaders that produce a lot of rhetoric and little action. The problems are not well understood, and how to address them is even less understood.

My conclusion, we have a 'Global Governance Crisis', as I have been calling it. It is also a management and leadership crisis. Those tasked with governing and managing our institutions are clearly not up to the job. And, I think most people would agree, the lack of confidence in our leaders is as bad as it has ever been in living memory.

The biggest root cause of all these problems is what I have been calling the “Systems Thinking Capabilities Gap.” In short, directors, managers and other leaders do not have the systems thinking and practice capabilities they need to operate the systems they are responsible for effectively. At best they have a good understanding of a part of one system, and a limited understanding of a few others.?

Even when they have some knowledge, they tend to focus it on improving the performance and efficiency of running one system, whilst reducing the costs of doing so. This has been the obsession of management theory and practice for more than a century. Relatively speaking, little effort is invested in trying to develop better systems or entirely new ones.

Many of our management theories and practices have trapped us in a cycle driven by industrial era thinking which is incapable of addressing the challenges we now face, several of which were caused by that era and the thinking of those that governed, managed and lead it. But what gets taught in universities has changed little.?

Much of the teaching is based on the scientific method, which is very valuable but insufficient. It leads to deeper and deeper analysis of the smaller and smaller parts of systems in search of causes and effects. But this atomised approach, driven by increasingly specialised expertise, provides only a useful, but increasingly limited, understanding of the real world of interrelated and interdependent systems that are very different in nature from one another. It is of very limited use in relation to social systems, where emotions are an important factor in determining behaviour, in ways that may vary from one person to another, for example.?

The dangers of short-sightedness (myopia) – only being able to focus on the relatively near-term – are recognised as one of our weaknesses. I believe that narrow-sightedness (tunnel vision) of only very small parts of a whole [system] is the biggest reason the “Systems Thinking Capabilities Gap” is a problem.?

If we lack the tools and methods that would allow us to see larger systems more completely, we cannot think strategically, make strategic decisions, develop strategic plans or execute strategies effectively. Why? Because we lack the ability to see the likely consequences of our actions, or to see and comprehend the potential risks and act accordingly.

The concept of Predictable Surprises teaches us that in hindsight many crises could have been predicted, yet they surprise us. Often, they were predicted in one part of the system, but the risk was not communicated to, or understood by, other parts. As a result, we are left unprepared for problems. The COVID pandemic is one of many examples.?

The PwC Global Crisis Survey 2019, a survey of directors of large organisations globally, found the vast majority believed their organisation would face a major crisis every 12-24 months – the frequency increasing with the size, therefore the complexity, of the organisation. If they can predict crises, why do they fail to avoid them? I believe it is because of the “Systems Thinking Capabilities Gaps” of the directors, managers and leaders. All have only partial understanding of the system as a whole. Because of the crisis it causes, Tunnel Vision destroys huge amounts of value and can even lead to complete failure. It is the cause of the Global Governance, Management and Leadership crisis. But what is the solution?

Overcoming the Systems Thinking Capabilities Gap is of critical importance in my opinion. Without doing do strategies are useless and risk management is impossible. It is the reason I worked with Dr Michael C Jackson, author of “Critical Systems Thinking and the Management of Complexity” to create an executive programme of the same name. It helps people understand what systems thinking approaches and tools ought to be applied according to the nature of a specific problem or situation. And it helps in making decisions under conditions of uncertainty, or when faced with the additional problems volatility and ambiguity.

If I have convinced you of the growing need to overcome the Systems Thinking Capabilities Gap, you may be surprised to learn that the number of universities teaching any form of systems thinking has been in decline. It is also the case that only certain ‘schools of systems thinking’ (of which there are ten main ones) usually get taught. And there are almost none focused on the pluralistic approach with explored the strengths and weaknesses of each approach in relation to a specific problem or situation. This is the Critical Systems Thinking approach pioneered by Dr Jackson, which we are offering as an introductory programme for executives.?

In my opinion the pluralistic approach is essential. It is sad then that the discipline of systems thinking has evolved only recently and has been subject to episodes of “academic warfare”, as Dr Jackson describes it – each school being defended by strong advocates as the best approach. Such academic wars are waged in other disciplines too, but it is to be hoped Critical Systems Thinking and Practice, underpinned by pragmatism, will be recognised as the only sensible way forward for the discipline as a whole.

Dr Jackson’s book traces the whole history of the discipline and each of the schools over nearly 700 pages. We based the executive programme on it, and it will be the basis of the shorter practitioner guidebook that he is currently working on. I believe that these three ‘products’ of his life’s work will be recognised as the essential references for the development of what will eventually be recognised as a core competence for enlightened government, management and leadership, essential to all enlightened enterprises.

Mike’s work will form the core body of knowledge of the Critical Systems Institute which we are currently designing and will soon establish. To it we will add other references, other courses and a growing body of case-study based practice knowledge. The work of this institute will also be closely related to the Institute for Enlightened Governance, Management and Leadership which we are also currently designing and will soon launch.

As we come to the end of the delivery of the first programme, An Introduction to Critical Systems Thinking and the Management of Complexity with just under one hundred participants, we are now taking applications for the second cohort starting on February 21st 2023.

The programmes are delivered entirely online for a global audience, and in a multi-media format. Each week one of the eight modules is released. It contains a pre-recorded introduction and references to other videos, books etc. Later each week we then host two hour long live sessions that consist of a 30 minute dialogue between Mike and a guest expert. That is followed by a 30 minute audience Q&A session. Recordings of both are then added to the module soon afterwards. And all the content is available for a minimum of one year after the eight-week programme ends.?

The programme is primarily designed for leaders and senior managers working in business, government, local government, health, education, charities, project management, logistics, information systems, evaluation, etc. who want to understand what applying a systems approach can achieve in their contexts. It is also open to systems thinkers, consultants and academics. Participation is by application. VISIT THE WEBSITE FOR FURTHER DETAILS AND TO APPLY.