Systems Thinking

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Systems Thinking

Systems Thinking is a proven approach for developing innovative solutions to messy situations that often seem like intractable dilemmas. Would you like to know more?

Systems Thinking Iceberg IM-593 Include in next version of the video.
Use Alman's comments on the discussions tab to update the iceberg diagram in the next version of the video.
Systems thinking originated in 1956, when Professor Jay Forrester founded the Systems Dynamic Group at MIT's Sloan School of Management.

Fig. 1 - Iceberg Diagram Components (from Leo Gilmore)

Components

Related Concepts

References

Books

Thinking in Systems: A Primer by Donella Meadows
The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge
Systems Thinking: Creative Holism for Managers by Michael C. Jackson
An Introduction to Systems Thinking by Barry Richmond
The Art of Systems Thinking by Joseph O'Connor

Learning

Learning Systems Thinking
Systems Thinking and Practice Online Course T551_1 from Open Univeristy
DSRP
Sustainable Tomorrow A Teachers’ Guidebook for Applying Systems Thinking to Environmental Education Curricula for Grades 9-12 by Colleen Ponto and Nalani Linder

Other

Donella Meadows Institute
Revised Systems Thinking Rubrics from Catalina School

Comments from Lori Filipek 2012.09.08 1) p. 5, Leverage row, “the best way” in column 2 (You’re getting close.) would be “better than other ways;” “the best choice” in column 3 (You’ve got It!) would be “a better choice than others;” and “best choice” in column 4 (Wow!) would be “best choice or choices.” 2) I just changed my mind(!) regarding column 4 (Wow!). I'd just change "best choice" to "best choices." There's very seldom a single "best."

Developing an Interest in Systems Thinking
Leadership and Systems Thinking by Col. George E. Reed, USA
Systems Thinking: Working Together to Create a Sustainable World Graphic Large, Small
Systems Thinking Related Blogs
Habits of a Systems Thinker
Systems Thinking Aha Moments
Systems Thinking & Process Thinking
Systems Thinking as a Language
Living Systems Thinking

Systems thinking

Clinical: Approaches · Group therapy · Techniques · Types of problem · Areas of specialism · Taxonomies · Therapeutic issues · Modes of delivery · Model translation project · Personal experiences ·

Systems thinking is a mental model that promotes the belief that the component parts of a system will act differently when isolated from its environment or other parts of the system, and argues against Descartes's reductionist view. It includes viewing systems in a holistic manner, rather than through purely reductionist techniques. It promotes gaining insights into the whole by understanding the linkages and interactions between the elements that comprise the whole "system", consistent with systems philosophy. Systems Thinking recognizes that all human activity systems are open systems; therefore, they are affected by the environment in which they exist. Systems Thinking recognizes that in complex systems events are separated by distance and time; therefore, small catalytic events can cause large changes in the system. Systems thinking acknowledges that a change in one area of a system can adversely affect another area of the system; thus, it promotes organizational communication at all levels in order to avoid the silo effect.

Systems thinkers consider that:

a "system" is a dynamic and complex whole, interacting as a structured functional unit
information flows between the different elements that compose the system
a system is a community situated within an environment
information flows 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 growth/decay behavior

For further details see complex system

2.1 Examples

Why use systems thinking techniques?

Systems thinkers are particularly interested in studying systems because changing a system frequently leads to counterintuitive system responses. For example feedback loops may operate to either keep the organization in check or unbalance it.

Traditional decision making tends to involve linear cause and effect relationships. By taking a systems approach, we can see the whole complex of bidirectional interrelationships. Instead of analysing a problem in terms of an input and an output, for example, we look at the whole system of inputs, processes, outputs, feedback, and controls. This larger picture will typically provide more useful results than traditional methods.

System thinking also helps us integrate the temporal dimension of any decision. Instead of looking at discrete "snapshots" at points in time, a systems methodology will allow us to see change as a continuous process.

Systems Thinking is a worldview based on the perspective of the systems sciences, which seeks to understand interconnectedness, complexity and wholeness of components of systems in specific relationship to each other. Systems thinking is not only constructivist, rather systems thinking embraces the values of reductionist science by understanding the parts, and the constructivist perspectives which seek to understand wholes, and more so, the understanding of the complex relationships that enable 'parts' to become 'wholes' as noted in the example below.

What is a system?

A 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 components of other systems.

Systems thinking techniques may be used to study any kind of system -- natural, scientific, human, or conceptual.

Examples

Systems thinking often involves considering a "system" in different ways:

Rather than trying to improve the braking system on a car by looking in great detail at the composition of the brake pads (reductionist), the boundary of the braking system may be extended to include not only the components of the car, but the driver, the road and the weather, and considering the interactions between them.

Looking at something as a series of conceptual systems according to multiple viewpoints. A supermarket could be considered as a "profit making system" from the perspective of management, an "employment system" from the perspective of the staff, and a "shopping system" -- or perhaps an "entertainment system" -- from the perspective of the customers. As a result of such thinking, new insights may be gained into how the supermarket works, why it has problems, or how changes made to one such system may impact on the others.

Methodologies

Systems thinking uses a variety of techniques that may be divided into:

Hard systems - involving simulations, often using computers and the techniques of operations research. Useful for problems that can justifiably be quantified. However it cannot easily take into account unquantifiable variables (opinions, culture, politics, etc), and may treat people as being passive, rather than having complex motivations.
Soft systems - Used to tackle systems that cannot easily be quantified, especially those involving people interacting with each other or with "systems". Useful for understanding motivations, viewpoints, and interactions but, naturally, it doesn't give quantified answers. Soft systems is a field that the academic Peter Checkland has done much to develop. Morphological analysis is a complementary method for structuring and analysing non-quantifiable problem complexes.
Evolutionary systems - the development of Evolutionary Systems Design by Bela H. Banathy integrates critical systems inquiry and soft systems methodologies to create a meta-methodology applicable to the design of complex social systems. These systems, similar to dynamic systems are understood as open, complex systems, but further accounts for their potential capacity to evolve over time. Banathy uniquely integrated the multidisciplinary perspectives of systems research (including chaos, complexity, cybernetics), cultural anthropology, evolutionary theory, and others.

Applications

Systems thinking is increasingly being used to tackle a wide variety of subjects in fields such as management, computing, engineering and the environment.

Bibliography

Russell L. Ackoff (1999) Ackoff's Best NY: Wiley
Bela H. Banathy (1996) Designing Social Systems in a Changing World NY: Plenum
Bela H. Banathy (2000) The Guided Evolution of Society NY: Plenum/Kluwer Academic
John Gall (1978) Systemantics Pocket Books
Peter M. Senge (1990) The Fifth Discipline - The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization (Currency Doubleday).
Gerald M. Weinberg (1975) An Introduction to General Systems Thinking (1975 ed., Wiley-Interscience) (2001 ed. Dorset House).
Joseph O'Connor, Ian McDermott (1997) The Art of Systems Thinking: Revolutionary Techniques to Transform Your Business and Your Life HarperCollins.
Bradford Keeney(1983) Aesthetics of Change Guilford Press
Peter_Checkland (1981) Systems Thinking, Systems Practice. (Wiley)
Peter_Checkland Jim Scholes (1990) Soft Systems Methodology in Action. (Wiley) ISBN 0-471-92768-6
Charles L. Hutchins (1996) Systemic Thinking: Solving Complex Problems CO:PDS ISBN 1-888017-51-1
Tom Ritchey (2002) General Morphological Analysis: A General Method for Non-Quantified Modelling

External links

Pegasus Communications: Annual systems thinking conference plus print and electronic resources
ACASA: The Ackoff Center for Advancement of System Approaches. (they have a blog, too)
Systems Thinking from the Thinking Page
systems-thinking.de: systems thinking links displayed as a network
ISSS: International Society for the Systems Sciences
Overview from systems-thinking.org
Overview from open2.net and the BBC
The Swedish Morphological Society
New England Complex Systems Institute

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Systems Thinking

See Systems Thinking

Systems thinking provides tools and approaches to problem solving. (Soft Systems Methodology) and architecture and design (Hard Systems Methodology .. like Systems Engineering).

See Peter Checkland 's book, Systems Thinking, Systems Practice for more information on Soft Systems Methodology (SSM)

Another good reference site: SystemsWiki

SystemWiki on YouTube

Cybernetics and view of Systems Thinking evolution

Systems Thinking for Managers

See also System Thinking: Creative Holism for Managers

By Michael C. Jackson

Many approaches

Systems Thinking References

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Revision: 13.0.0

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bruce.mcnaughton@change-aide.com

In systems thinking, an object is considered as a set of interrelated and/or interacting elements. The functions, properties and structure of elements, even the way of system segmentation onto elements, may depend on the goals of studies of the object.(Theory of Classification)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_thinking

Depiction of systems thinking about society

Complex systems
Topics
Self-organization
Collective behavior
Networks
Evolution and adaptation
Pattern formation
Systems theory and cybernetics
Nonlinear dynamics
Game theory
v t e

Systems thinking is a way of making sense of the complexity of the world by looking at it in terms of wholes and relationships rather than by splitting it down into its parts.^[1]^[2] It has been used as a way of exploring and developing effective action in complex contexts,^[3] enabling systems change.^[4]^[5] Systems thinking draws on and contributes to systems theory and the system sciences.^[6]

History

Main article: Systems theory § History

Ptolemaic system versus the Copernican system

The term system is polysemic: Robert Hooke (1674) used it in multiple senses, in his System of the World,^[7]^: p.24 but also in the sense of the Ptolemaic system versus the Copernican system^[8]^: 450 of the relation of the planets to the fixed stars^[9] which are cataloged in Hipparchus and Ptolemy's Star catalog.^[10] Hooke's claim was answered in magisterial detail by Newton's (1687) Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, Book three, The System of the World^[11]^{: Book three} (that is, the system of the world is a physical system).^[7]

Newton's approach, using dynamical systems continues to this day.^[8] In brief, Newton's equations (a system of equations) have methods for their solution.

Feedback control systems

System output can be controlled with feedback.

By 1824 the Carnot cycle presented an engineering challenge, which was how to maintain the operating temperatures of the hot and cold working fluids of the physical plant.^[12] In 1868 James Clerk Maxwell presented a framework for, and a limited solution to the problem of controlling the rotational speed of a physical plant.^[13] Maxwell's solution echoed James Watt's (1784) centrifugal moderator (denoted as element Q) for maintaining (but not enforcing) the constant speed of a physical plant (that is, Q represents a moderator, but not a governor, by Maxwell's definition).^[14]^[a]

Maxwell's approach, which linearized the equations of motion of the system, produced a tractable method of solution.^[14]^{: 428–429} Norbert Wiener identified this approach as an influence on his studies of cybernetics^[b] during World War II^[14] and Wiener even proposed treating some subsystems under investigation as black boxes.^[18]^: 242 Methods for solutions of the systems of equations then become the subject of study, as in feedback control systems, in stability theory, in constraint satisfaction problems, the unification algorithm, type inference, and so forth.

Applications

"So, how do we change the structure of systems to produce more of what we want and less of that which is undesirable? ... MIT’s Jay Forrester likes to say that the average manager can ... guess with great accuracy where to look for leverage points—places in the system where a small change could lead to a large shift in behavior".^[19]^: 146— Donella Meadows, (2008) Thinking In Systems: A Primer p.145 ^[c]

Characteristics

System boundary in context System input and output allows exchange of energy and information across boundary.

"...What is a system? A system is a set of things ... interconnected in such a way that they produce their own pattern of behavior over time. ... But the system’s response to these forces is characteristic of itself, and that response is seldom simple in the real world".—Dana Meadows^[19]^: 2

Subsystems serve as part of a larger system, but each comprises a system in its own right. Each frequently can be described reductively, with properties obeying its own laws, such as Newton's System of the World, in which entire planets, stars, and their satellites can be treated, sometimes in a scientific way as dynamical systems, entirely mathematically, as demonstrated by Johannes Kepler's equation (1619) for the orbit of Mars before Newton's Principia appeared in 1687.
Black boxes are subsystems whose operation can be characterized by their inputs and outputs, without regard to further detail.^[19]^: 87–88^[29]

"system: (1) An integrated whole even though composed of diverse, interacting, specialized structures and subjunctions".^[17]^: 582

Political systems were recognized as early as the millennia before the common era.^[30]^[31]
Biological systems were recognized in Aristotle's lagoon ca. 350 BCE.^[32]^[33]
Economic systems were recognized by 1776.^[34]
Social systems were recognized by the 19th and 20th centuries of the common era.^[35]^[36]
Radar systems were developed in World War II in subsystem fashion; they were made up of transmitter, receiver, power supply, and signal processing subsystems, to defend against airborne attacks.^[37]
Dynamical systems of ordinary differential equations were shown to exhibit stable behavior given a suitable Lyapunov control function by Aleksandr Lyapunov in 1892.^[38]
Thermodynamic systems were treated as early as the eighteenth century, in which it was discovered that heat could be created without limit, but that for closed systems, laws of thermodynamics could be formulated.^[39] Ilya Prigogine (1980) has identified situations in which systems far from equilibrium can exhibit stable behavior;^[40] once a Lyapunov function has been identified, future and past can be distinguished, and scientific activity can begin.^[39]^{: 212–213}

Systems far from equilibrium

Living systems are resilient,^[24] and are far from equilibrium.^[19]^: Ch.3^[40] Homeostasis is the analog to equilibrium, for a living system; the concept was described in 1849, and the term was coined in 1926.^[41]^[42]

Resilient systems are self-organizing;^[24]^[d]^[19]^: Ch.3 ^[43]

The scope of functional controls is hierarchical, in a resilient system.^[24]^[19]^: Ch.3

Frameworks and methodologies

Frameworks and methodologies for systems thinking include:

Critical systems heuristics:^[44] in particular, there can be twelve boundary categories for the systems when organizing one's thinking and actions.^[44]
Critical systems thinking, including the E P I C approach.
Ontology engineering of representation, formal naming and definition of categories, and the properties and the relations between concepts, data, and entities.
Soft systems methodology, including the CATWOE approach and rich pictures.
Systemic design, for example using the double diamond approach.
System dynamics of stocks, flows, and internal feedback loops.
Viable system model: uses 5 subsystems 1 2 3 4 5.

Notes

A solution to the equations for a dynamical system can be afflicted by instability or oscillation.^[15]^: 7:33 The Governor: A corrective action against error can solve the dynamical equation by integrating the error.^[15]^: 29:44^[16]
"cybernetics: see system science.";^[17]^: 135 "system science: —the systematized knowledge of systems"^[17]^: 583
Donella Meadows, Thinking In Systems: A Primer^[19]^[20] Overview, in video clips: Chapter 1^[21] Chapter 2, part 1^[22] Chapter 2, part 2^[23] Chapter 3^[24] Chapter 4^[25] Chapter 5^[26] Chapter 6^[27] Chapter 7^[28]

Abstract: "An inevitable prerequisite for this book, as implied by its title, is a presupposition that systems science is a legitimate field of scientific inquiry. It is self-evident that I, as the author of this book, consider this presupposition valid. Otherwise, clearly, I would not conceive of writing the book in the first place". —George J. Klir, "What Is Systems Science?" from Facets of Systems Science (1991)

References

Anderson, Virginia, & Johnson, Lauren (1997). Systems Thinking Basics: From Concepts to Causal Loops. Waltham, Mass: Pegasus Comm., Inc.
Magnus Ramage and Karen Shipp. 2009. Systems Thinkers. Springer.
Introduction to Systems thinking. Report of GSE and GORS seminar. Civil Service Live. 3 July 2012. Government Office for Science.
Sarah York, Rea Lavi, Yehudit Judy Dori, and MaryKay Orgill Applications of Systems Thinking in STEM Education J. Chem. Educ. 2019, 96, 12, 2742–2751 Publication Date:May 14, 2019 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b00261
"School of System Change: Why Systems Change?". School of System Change: Learning to lead change in a complex world. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
Systemic Thinking 101 Russell L Ackoff From Mechanistic to Systemic thinking, also awal street journal (2016) Systems Thinking Speech by Dr. Russell Ackoff 1:10:57
Hooke, Robert (1674) An attempt to prove the motion of the earth from observations
J H Marchal (Dec 1975) On the concept of a system Philosophy of Science, Vol. 42, No. 4 (December 1975), pp. 448–468 (21 pages) as reprinted in Gerald Midgely (ed.) (2002) Systems thinking vol One
Jon Voisey Universe Today (14 Oct 2022) Scholarly History of Ptolemy’s Star Catalog Index
Jessica Lightfoot Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 57 (2017) 935–9672017 Hipparchus Commentary On Aratus and Eudoxus
Newton, Isaac (1687) Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica
Sadi Carnot (1824) Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire
James Clerk Maxwell (1868) On Governors 12 pages
Otto Mayr (1971) Maxwell and the Origins of Cybernetics Isis, Vol. 62, No. 4 (Winter, 1971), pp. 424-444 (21 pages)
The Royal Society of Edinburgh (2016) Celebrating Maxwell's Genius and Legacy: Prof Rodolphe Sepulchre
Karl Johan Åström and Richard M. Murray (2021) Feedback Systems: An Introduction for Scientists and Engineers, Second Edition
IEEE (1972) Standard Dictionary of Electrical and Electronics Terms
Peter Galison (1994) The Ontology of the Enemy: Norbert Wiener and the Cybernetic Vision Critical Inquiry, Vol. 21, No. 1 (Autumn, 1994), pp. 228–266 (39 pages) JSTOR
Donella Meadows, (2008) Thinking In Systems: A Primer
Donella H. Meadows (1977) A Philosophical Look at System Dynamics 53:18
Ashley Hodgson Thinking in Systems, Key Ideas (Ch. 1)
Ashley Hodgson Thinking in Systems, Ch. 2: Types of System Dynamics 2a
Ashley Hodgson Thinking in Systems, Ch. 2, Part 2: Limiting Factors in Systems 2b
Ashley Hodgson Thinking in Systems, Ch. 3: Resilience, Self-Organization and Hierarchy 3
Ashley Hodgson Thinking in Systems, Ch. 4: Why Systems Surprise Us 4
Ashley Hodgson Thinking in Systems, Ch. 5: System Traps 5
Ashley Hodgson Thinking in Systems, Ch. 6: Leverage Points in Systems 6
Ashley Hodgson Thinking in Systems, Ch. 7: Living with Systems 7
Wiener, Norbert; Cybernetics: Or the Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine, MIT Press, 1961, ISBN 0-262-73009-X, page xi
Aristotle, Politics
JS Maloy (2009) The Aristotelianism of Locke's Politics Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 70, No. 2 (April 2009), pp. 235–257 (23 pages)
Aristotle, History of Animals
Lennox, James (27 July 2011). "Aristotle's Biology". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford University. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
Adam Smith (1776) The Wealth of Nations Book IV refers to commercial, and mercantile systems, as well as to systems of political enonomy
Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
Talcott Parsons, The Structure of Social Action
MIT Radiation Laboratory, MIT Radiation Laboratory Series, 28 volumes
Richard Pates (2021) What is a Lyapunov function
Prigogine, Ilya (1980). From Being To Becoming. Freeman. ISBN 0-7167-1107-9. 272 pages.
Glansdorff, P., Prigogine, I. (1971). Thermodynamic Theory of Structure, Stability and Fluctuations, London: Wiley-Interscience ISBN 0-471-30280-5
Cannon, W.B. (1932). The Wisdom of the Body. New York: W. W. Norton. pp. 177–201.
Cannon, W. B. (1926). "Physiological regulation of normal states: some tentative postulates concerning biological homeostatics". In A. Pettit (ed.). A Charles Riches amis, ses collègues, ses élèves (in French). Paris: Les Éditions Médicales. p. 91.
H T Odum (25 Nov 1988) Self-Organization, Transformity and Information Science Vol 242, Issue 4882 pp. 1132–1139 as reprinted by Gerald Midgley ed. (2002), Systems Thinking vol 2

Werner Ulrich (originally 1987) A Brief Introduction to Critical Systems Heuristics (CSH)

Sources

Russell L. Ackoff (1968) "General Systems Theory and Systems Research Contrasting Conceptions of Systems Science." in: Views on a General Systems Theory: Proceedings from the Second System Symposium, Mihajlo D. Mesarovic (ed.).
A.C. Ehresmann, J.-P. Vanbremeersch (1987) Hierarchical evolutive systems: A mathematical model for complex systems" Bulletin of Mathematical Biology Volume 49, Issue 1, Pages 13–50
NJTA Kramer & J de Smit (1977) Systems thinking: Concepts and Notions, Springer. 148 pages
A. H. Louie (November 1983) "Categorical system theory" Bulletin of Mathematical Biology volume 45, pages 1047–1072
DonellaMeadows.org Systems Thinking Resources
Gerald Midgley (ed.) (2002) Systems Thinking, SAGE Publications. 4 volume set: 1,492 pages List of chapter titles
Robert Rosen. (1958) “The Representation of Biological Systems from the Standpoint of the Theory of Categories". Bull. math. Biophys. 20, 317–342.
Peter Senge, (1990) The Fifth Discipline