Systems Thinking

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Gerald Midgley Stephen Bray Oh no, here we disagree quite fundamentally. Some more primitive forms of theory that have been called 'systems thinking' are like a loaded gun that can be used for good and ill, but not more sophisticated forms. One of the core realizations of Werner Ulrich - and I have also taken this up and developed it over a 24 year period - is that boundary judgments (defining what is included in framing an analysis) is tightly connected to value judgments (what is important to the agent involved). This makes value judgements, explorations, contests, etc., absolutely fundamental to systems thinking. I would go so far as saying that a supposedly value-free systems thinking is not systems thinking at all. Systems thinking is always value-full. There may be disagreement between stakeholders on what is the greater good to be pursued, but even this can be understood through systems theory (my theories of conflict and marginalization, for instance), which helps in reflecting how limited value judgments, which are merely part of a system that is resistant to change, need to be transcended. An earlier discussion was whether we can form a 4th wave of systems thinking using Derek Cabrera's DSRP as a core element. One of the biggest dangers here is to treat DSRP as a value neutral technology, instead of realizing that the D (distinction) always implies the exercise of value judgments. The 2nd and 3rd waves of systems thinking all took the best of the previous waves into themselves when new systems ideas were advanced, and we must not lose the best of the 3rd wave, which has a much more sophisticated understanding of boundaries, values, conflict and marginalization than anything else I have seen in the systems world.