What makes You a Systems Thinker?

Systems Thinking

It’s important to remember that the term “systems thinking” can mean different things to different people. The discipline of systems thinking is more than just a collection of tools and methods – it’s also an underlying philosophy.

Systems thinking expands the range of choices available for solving a problem by broadening our thinking and helping us articulate problems in new and different ways. At the same time, the principles of systems thinking make us aware that there are no perfect solutions; the choices we make will have an impact on other parts of the system. By anticipating the impact of each trade-off, we can minimize its severity or even use it to our own advantage. Systems thinking therefore allows us to make informed choices.

Systems thinking can be utilised when you begin to address an issue, avoid assigning blame (which is the conventional approach for a group to start a discussion). Instead, this approach focusses on items that people seem to be glossing over and try to arouse the group's curiosity about the problem under discussion. This could be focussing the conversation on questions like, "What is it about this problem that we do not understand?"

Here is my take on what can help you become an effective Systems Thinker.

Six Tools for Systems Thinking

In systems thinking, specific words are used to intentioinally define a different set of actions to mainstream thinking. As a starter for ten, anyone new to systems thinking can look at the following six tools to help them along their journey.

Synthesis

Synthesis refers to the combining of two or more things to create something new. When we talk about systems thinking, the objective is synthesis, as opposed to analysis, which is the dissection of complexity into manageable components. Analysis fits into the mechanical and reductionist viewpoint, where the world is broken down into parts. However, from Aristotle, we know that "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts". In essence, synthesis is the ability to see interconnectedness.

Interconnectedness

Systems thinking requires a shift in mindset whereby we understand that nothing resides in isolation and everything is interconnected. The interconnections within systems thinking are the rules, ideas, and relationships that tie things (i.e. elements) together. We refer to these interconnections in the perspective of physical sciences and not in a spiritual manner.

The concept of interconnectedness is an important tool for a systems thinker because it helps them appreciate the fact the world is constantly changing, and the things that change within it are always influencing the changes of other factors. As a result, keeping interconnectedness in mind helps the system thinker appreciate the parts of a system and how they work together instead of failing into a trap of isolating each part.

Essentially, everything is reliant upon something else for survival. Humans need food, air, and water to sustain our bodies, and trees need carbon dioxide and sunlight to thrive. Everything needs something else, often a complex array of other things, to survive.

Emergence

From a systems perspective, we know that larger things emerge from smaller parts: emergence is the natural outcome of things coming together. In the most abstract sense, emergence describes the universal concept of how life emerges from individual biological elements in diverse and unique ways.

Emergence is the outcome of the synergies of the parts; it is about non-linearity and self-organization and we often use the term ‘emergence’ to describe the outcome of things interacting together. In simple terms, the whole exhibits qualities that are not always "visible" in the parts and this is called emergence.

Conceptually, people often find emergence a bit tricky to get their head around, but when you get it, your brain starts to form emergent outcomes from the disparate and often odd things you encounter in the world.

Feedback Loops

Systems thinking is not linear, it happens not in a straight line — it happens in cycles, loops, and contours. All parts of the system are connected, so a change in one part generates waves of changes that reach all other parts. Thus, the action returns to the starting point in a modified form: so we have a loop and this is called a?feedback loop.

All our experience is formed as a result of such actions. The phrase “feedback” is often used to designate any reaction, but in reality, it means the perception of the result of our actions affecting subsequent actions, i.e. two-way communication. The presence of feedback is an integral characteristic of a system. No feedback means no system. There are two main types of feedback: Reinforcing feedback and Balancing feedback.

• Reinforcing feedback: a change in system state which serves as a signal to enhance the initial change. In other words, the system provides a big change in the same direction.
• Balancing feedback:?a change in system state which serves as a signal to start moving in the opposite direction in order to restore the lost balance.

In simple terms, effect of the balancing loop is the pusuit of a specific goal, the effect of the reinforcing loop is a constant progressive effect (both in positive and negative).

Causality

Understanding feedback loops is about gaining perspective of causality: how one thing results in another thing in a dynamic and constantly evolving system (all systems are dynamic and constantly changing in some way; that is the essence of life).?

The first big rule of classical causality is that things have causes. They don’t just happen of their own accord. If a ball moves, the likelihood is someone kicked it; if an apple falls from a tree, it’s because its weight became too great for the branch it was hanging from. Second, effects follow causes in a predictable, linear manner. You swing your leg, make contact with the ball, and off it moves, in that order and no other. Third, big effects grow up from little causes. A piston, for example, starts to move when a lot of individual hot atoms hit against it and push it a certain way. The laws of thermodynamics, which govern the way atoms move, then provide certain rules about what causes can precipitate what effects, and so an overall direction for causality – a flow of time.

Causality as a concept in systems thinking is really about being able to decipher the way things influence each other in a system. Understanding causality leads to a deeper perspective on agency, feedback loops, connections and relationships, which are all fundamental parts of systems mapping.

Systems Mapping

Systems change is an intentional process designed to alter the status quo by shifting the function or structure of an identified system with purposeful interventions. It is a journey which can require a radical change in people’s attitudes as well as in the ways people work. Systems change aims to bring about lasting change by altering underlying structures and supporting mechanisms which make the system operate in a particular way. These can include policies, routines, relationships, resources, power structures and values.

However, to change the system, you need to first understand the system, and mapping is a great way to do that. As you can imagine, there are a number of different ways you might approach mapping the system to represent system elements and connections. For example, you might create:

• Actor Maps, to show which individuals and/or organizations are key players in the space and how they are connected
• Mind maps, that highlight various trends in the external environment that influence the issue at hand
• Issue maps, which lay out the political, social, or economic issues affecting a given geography or constituency (often used by advocacy groups)
• Causal-loop?diagrams, that?focus on explicating the feedback loops (positive and negative) that lead to system behavior or functioning

System Mapping is great for creating a common understanding of what's in, and out, of the system.

Moving forward

These six tools are essential building blocks for developing an understanding of how the world works from a systems viewpoint and will greatly strengthen your ability to think divergently and creatively for a positive impact.

In regards to systems thinking, I have found that practice makes perfect and clear and concise communication is key. Having the right people in the room to gain the right knowledge will allow you to understand the system at hand to a greater detail and in derivation allow you to make effective decisions.

How do you know you have an understanding of systems thinking?

• You are asking different kinds of questions than you asked before
• You are hearing "catchphrases" that raise cautionary flags. For example, you find yourself refocusing the discussion when someone says, "The problem is we need more (sales, staff, revenue, resource, etc.)".
• You are beginning to detect the archetypes and balancing and reinforcing processes in discussions you hear or read.

However you proceed moving forward, whether that is using simple systems thinking tools to complex flow diagrams, systems thinking will forever change the way you think about the world and approach issues. Keep in mind the six tools above and you are ready to become a systems thinker!