By Chris Ingold MBA | Systems Thinker, Change Agent, Catalyst
Originally published in LinkedIn
Systems thinking describes any problem solving approach that looks at complex problem spaces as systems, not just processes.
Over the past twenty years, this way of thinking has helped me work through many such challenges, and change these systems for the better. Systems thinking is widely applicable. Whether in business, government, the community or the environment, if you can see a system, you can apply systems thinking.
But what’s a system?
A system, in this context, is a bounded set of interconnected happenings, interactions and feedback loops that collectively do something that matters. Your climate control system, your digestive system, the electoral system or the way your company responds to customer feedback – they are all systems.
Look at any of these as just a process and you will miss much of what happens in real life, including important factors that influence or regulate that process.
Systems thinking is better at focusing on what does happen rather than just what should happen. This helps you address the right problem.
Systems thinking also allows you to see your problem space from many different perspectives. This comes back to the word bounded in the definition above. The perspective you take influences what is and isn’t part of the system. Looking at these perspectives independently, from a systems perspective, can really help when understanding how different stakeholders view the world.
To do systems thinking well, you should be able to define clearly what’s inside a system, and outside, based upon whether and how it impacts upon the purpose of the system from the perspective that you’re taking.
Purpose is as important as perspective.
Imagine you’re trying to work out what’s not quite working in your customer complaints department. You get together with the team to consider how things currently operate and start sketching out what you see.
Wow – there’s a lot going on!
You’ve now identified things that happen, but you’re not yet considering them as a purposeful, bounded system.
So, you ask, what does our system look like if it’s:
- a system for delivering a great net promoter score?
- a system for delighting your customers?
- a system for maximising customer retention?
- a system to ensure negative feedback never reaches the boss?
All of these things are different. Even though the top three should all correlate with each other, they may drive different behaviours if pursued exclusively (for example, if they’re a target or KPI).
And that last bullet point? If that system is performing ‘really well’ and yet you’re losing customers, then you’ve found some cultural issues to work on.
As well as defining and modelling systems, another common systems thinking practice is to identify where some common system archetypes exist in your organisation, and what you can do if they’re causing problems. This approach was popularised by Peter Senge in the 1990s and has had a revival over recent years. I have a favourite, just because of how often I’ve seen it: it’s called the Shifting the Burden system (https://www.systems-thinking.org/theWay/ssb/sb.htm).
If you have any technical debt in your organisation you’ll likely recognise that one!
There’s a lot more once you start digging into systems thinking. What I’ve described above is sometimes referred to as ‘soft systems thinking’ . This is in contrast to the more technical approaches found in systems dynamics and cybernetics which are fascinating yet have a far steeper learning curve.
At its simplest however, anyone can start practicing ‘soft’ systems thinking without needing to dive into a specific technique. Practising the mental shifts in perspective is the best starting point. After this, more formal methods can give you different ways to capture and reflect on what you’re seeing.
Remember that a systems thinker who uses no formal method, but makes a positive change, has done better than someone producing lots of formal models but no change, or worse is producing outputs that only another expert can understand.
Doing the basics really well is is the best way to have an impact, and in the real world, impact is everything.
So let’s end this article with the three things that are absolutely essential for effective systems thinking:
Firstly, you need to actually think.
Sounds obvious, doesn’t it! Occasionally systems thinking is painted as a holistic meditation-type exercise where you open your mind to see everything that’s going on. That may be a starting point but you then need to do the actual work, and this will require a good mental workout from all involved. It’s like the difference between making a map of the stars, versus using that map to navigate.
Secondly, you need to be able to focus.
Systems thinking needs you to set and reset boundaries. What is the system doing, what is it for, what is in the system and what isn’t.
Lastly, you need to be willing to see, accept and discuss different perspectives.
This includes becoming aware of your own worldviews, and sometimes understanding worldviews that might make you uncomfortable. Some perspectives or worldviews aren’t always easy to discuss, which I will return to in a future article.
So have fun, grab a coffee and start changing the world for the better.
Resources and links
Loops of Learning
For readers in Melbourne, there is an organisation called Loops of Learning focussed on both community-level systems thinking and engaging with larger businesses and government agencies to encourage thinking and action towards positive change. See their website here to find details of upcoming events or to join the mailing list.
Books, writers and links for anyone looking to dive down the rabbit hole:
On Soft Systems methodology, check out the works of Peter Checkland – there’s a good blog article here that provides a great summary.
Peter Senge’s book The Fifth Discipline is an all-time classic and focuses on the importance of systems thinking to organisational learning.
For quality/process people both W. Edwards Deming and Eli Goldratt were clearly systems thinkers at heart.
On System Dynamics there’s a wealth of resources to be found here. On Cybernetics check out the works of Stafford Beer, his attempt to develop a universal Viable Systems Model and the amazing story of Allende and Beer’s 1970s experiment in Chile. I’ve never bought into the idea that there can be one model to rule them all but this story deserves a movie, and it’s still arguably the biggest systems thinking initiative ever attempted.
