SYSTEMS THINKING v CRITICAL SYSTEMS THINKING

There are 10 main approaches to Systems Thinking. How many do you know? Can you name them? Do you know when each could be useful? Do you have a “systems thinking capabilities gap”? Does your business or organisation? Why is it important to address the problem?

Systems Thinking is important because you cannot think strategically, make good strategic decisions, nor executive strategies effectively if you don’t have good systems thinking capabilities. Systems thinking capabilities gaps mean you cannot see, understand and prevent risks. Nor can you innovate to seize new opportunities effectively. You risk destroying value and loose the opportunity to create it.

The mechanistic systems approach sees organisations as systems to be controlled. The approach is well summarised by Ray Dalio, the Founder of the asset management firm Bridgewater Associates in a recent post which began, “Great managers are not philosophers, entertainers, doers, or artists. They are engineers. They see their organizations as machines and work assiduously to maintain and improve them.”

Big names associated with other systems thinking disciplines attacked his views. Dave Snowden commented that he was, “amazed, that after the last few decades, someone could genuinely and sincerely believe all of this, let along advocate it” in his comment, for example.

In truth, the mechanistic analogy is useful, but has its limits and can be dangerous if those limits are not recognised. The same is true of all other systems thinking approaches. Those who attack the mechanistic approach tend to prefer the organismic systems approach which uses the analogy of systems in nature. It is also useful, but all analogies can be stretched too far.

These days we hear a lot about the need for “critical thinking,” defined as “the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skilfully conceptualizing, applying, analysing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action” by the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking.

In this context the word “critical” does not have the negative connotation in the sense in which it is widely used. It has more to do with discernment – the ability to judge with accuracy in understanding - the relevance, usefulness, appropriateness etc or tools, methods, means, approaches etc. in a given context or situation.

To summarise....

It is important to develop good systems thinking capabilities. That means understanding each of the ten or more approaches. Being able to discern when each approach may be useful is the difference between systems thinking and Critical Systems Thinking as defined by Dr Mike Jackson, author of Critical Systems Thinking and the Management of Complexity.

In his comment on Dalio’s post Mike said he was, “Frankly amazed that anyone should put all their eggs in the basket of the machine/engineering perspective these days.” Though he was “impressed by the clarity with which that perspective is expressed [by Dalio] - however limited it is.”

Too many systems thinkers are happy to put all their eggs in one basket and defend a particular approach in what amounts to “academic warfare,” as some have described it. The same happens in other disciplines but, given the importance of systems thinking in dealing with the increasingly complex and wicked problems we face, this is a great mistake in my opinion.

Critical Systems Thinking and the Management of Complexity, the title of Mike’s book, is also the title of a programme the Enlightened Enterprise Academy developed with Mike to help Directors, Executives and their organisations overcome their systems thinking capabilities gaps. It introduced the ten main approaches as they can be applied in Critical Systems Practice.

Coming from a strategic management background, I realised why so many strategies fail as soon as I discovered Critical Systems Thinking. I also understand why the discipline of risk management so often fails, and why project management (of major projects especially) is also very challenging. I am certain that none of these disciplines will fix their problems until they address the systems thinking capabilities gaps among those who practice them. I am also certain that every director and executive in any business or organisation cannot do their job well without developing Critical Systems Thinking as a core competence.

The third cohort of the Critical Systems Thinking and the Management of Complexity Programme starts on September 26th. DETAILS

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