From Wikipedia
Systems thinking is the process of understanding how things influence one another within a whole. In nature, systems thinking examples include ecosystems in which various elements such as air, water, movement, plants, and animals work together to survive or perish. In organizations, systems consist of people, structures, and processes that work together to make an organization healthy or unhealthy.
Systems Thinking has been defined as an approach to problem solving, by viewing “problems” as parts of an overall system, rather than reacting to specific part, outcomes or events and potentially contributing to further development of unintended consequences. Systems thinking is not one thing but a set of habits or practices within a framework that is based on the belief that the component parts of a system can best be understood in the context of relationships with each other and with other systems, rather than in isolation. Systems thinking focuses on cyclical rather than linear cause and effect.
In science systems, it is argued that the only way to fully understand why a problem or element occurs and persists is to understand the parts in relation to the whole. Standing in contrast to Descartes’s scientific reductionism and philosophical analysis, it proposes to view systems in a holistic manner. Consistent with systems philosophy, systems thinking concerns an understanding of a system by examining the linkages and interactions between the elements that compose the entirety of the system.
Science systems thinking attempts to illustrate that events are separated by distance and time and that small catalytic events can cause large changes in complex systems. Acknowledging that an improvement in one area of a system can adversely affect another area of the system, it promotes organizational communication at all levels in order to avoid the silo effect. Systems thinking techniques may be used to study any kind of system — natural, scientific, engineered, human, or conceptual.
The concept of a system
Science systems thinkers consider that:
a system is a dynamic and complex whole, interacting as a structured functional unit;
energy, material and information flow among the different elements that compose the system;
a system is a community situated within an environment;
energy, material and information flow from and to the surrounding environment via semi-permeable membranes or boundaries;
systems are often composed of entities seeking equilibrium but can exhibit oscillating, chaotic, or exponential behavior.
A holistic system is any set (group) of interdependent or temporally interacting parts. Parts are generally systems themselves and are composed of other parts, just as systems are generally parts or holons of other systems.
Science systems and the application of science systems thinking has been grouped into three categories based on the techniques used to tackle a system:
Hard systems — involving simulations, often using computers and the techniques of operations research/management science. Useful for problems that can justifiably be quantified. However it cannot easily take into account unquantifiable variables (opinions, culture, politics, etc.)[citation needed], and may treat people as being passive, rather than having complex motivations.
Soft systems — For systems that cannot easily be quantified, especially those involving people holding multiple and conflicting frames of reference. Useful for understanding motivations, viewpoints, and interactions and addressing qualitative as well as quantitative dimensions of problem situations. Soft systems are a field that utilizes foundation methodological work developed by Peter Checkland, Brian Wilson and their colleagues at Lancaster University. Morphological analysis is a complementary method for structuring and analysing non-quantifiable problem complexes.
Evolutionary systems — Béla H. Bánáthy developed a methodology that is applicable to the design of complex social systems. This technique integrates critical systems inquiry with soft systems methodologies. Evolutionary systems, similar to dynamic systems are understood as open, complex systems, but with the capacity to evolve over time. Bánáthy uniquely integrated the interdisciplinary perspectives of systems research (including chaos, complexity, cybernetics), cultural anthropology, evolutionary theory, and others.
The systems approach
The systems thinking approach incorporates several tenets:
Interdependence of objects and their attributes – independent elements can never constitute a system
Holism – emergent properties not possible to detect by analysis should be possible to define by a holistic approach
Goal seeking – systemic interaction must result in some goal or final state
Inputs and Outputs – in a closed system inputs are determined once and constant; in an open system additional inputs are admitted from the environment
Transformation of inputs into outputs – this is the process by which the goals are obtained
Entropy – the amount of disorder or randomness present in any system
Regulation – a method of feedback is necessary for the system to operate predictably
Hierarchy – complex wholes are made up of smaller subsystems
Differentiation – specialized units perform specialized functions
Equifinality – alternative ways of attaining the same objectives (convergence)
Multifinality – attaining alternative objectives from the same inputs (divergence)
My Own Writing
We live in a world of systems, collections of interacting things. But this isn’t always apparent to people. It takes a higher-level perspective to see what’s happening, to realize there are feedback loops: there are self-perpetuating cycles and self-regulating cycles all around around us, that a systems theorist can see. For example, in American foreign policy, the more we try to impose our will by force, the more resentment and resistance and terrorist acts we provoke. Or look at the endless loop of violence between Israelis and Palestinians. Or take the case of traffic: as residential development occurs, traffic increases. But building more road capacity allows more development to occurs, which worsens traffic again. Like a lot of cycles in the modern world, it’s self-perpetuating and thus not sustainable because they eventually reach a crisis point. The natural world is full of cycles, usually self-regulating cycles. The Greenhouse Effect will feed on itself as more heat is held in the atmosphere. The important thing to realize is that all cycles are happening simultaneously, at different scales, all around us: chemical, physical, biological, social, political, personal, economic. There are cycles of the economy, of the day, the week, the month, the year. There are cycles within your own body: sleep, etc. Some are just rhythms. It’s a perspective for viewing everything–the systems perspective.
We live in a world of systems: computer systems, network systems, transportation systems, communication systems, political systems, social systems, ecological systems. So it makes sense to learn the principles that apply to systems.
To understand the tree, you must understand the forest. To understand the forest, you must understand the tree.
Successful systems tend to expand until they reach a point where they begin to fail.
Patterns can be abstracted into principles and principles, when applied, result in patterns.
Systems must be kept simple in order to be modeled. Only by modeling can the effect of changes to the structure or contents of a system be predicted. So predictability of the effect of changes is a benefit of simplicity.
You cannot predict small scale-changes (e.g. time: daily stock price movements, human behavior: an individual’s daily actions), but you can predict large-scale changes (e.g long-term stock price trends, social changes).
Any system that works will have increasingly greater demands placed upon it until it breaks.
Processes create structures and structures create processes.
Things must often get worse before they can get better.
Each extreme creates its opposite.
Even complex dynamic systems with multiple feedback loops can be understood and improved.
Systems Principles
“Playing the game changes the game.”
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