Systems Thinking - Getting Started

This series of short video tutorial walks you through our introduction to systems thinking guide

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What You Will Learn!

You will learn what systems thinking is
You will gain a basic understanding of the different dimensions of systems thinking
You will learn why systems thinking is important when dealing with complex systems and scenarios
You will learn the difference between a reductionist and holistic paradigm

Description

This set of video tutorials is designed to give an outline or guide to what systems thinking is and the different elements that constitute it. Systems thinking is a very broad area that seeks to bring together the many different ways of thinking that are holistic in their interpretation of the world. Holistic thinking seeks to understand phenomena as intimately interconnected and comprehensible with reference to the whole system or environment they form part of. During the tutorials we unpack four main dimensions to systems thinking:

• As synthetic modes of reasoning that looks at what emerges when we put things together rather than taking them apart.

• As nonlinear way of looking at the world that focuses on relations of interdependence and feedback dynamics.

• As a relational paradigm interpreting things in the context of the network of relations they form part of.

• As a dynamic way of looking at the world, understanding change in terms of nonlinear feedback processes that shape system structure and outcomes.

The primary aim of systems thinking is to elevate our thinking from just seeing parts and linear interactions to seeing and understanding whole complex systems. In our everyday way of being we largely just see events, things, actions and reactions. Rarely does our thinking extend to seeing the broader systems that those events form part of.

Although our thinking is often piecemeal, the reality of the world we live in is complex, messy and interconnected. Systems thinking helps to illuminate how a complex world works. If we are ever to gain a deeper more comprehensive understanding of the complexity of the real world it will involve thinking in systems.

By becoming aware of the systems we form part of, the consequences of our actions within that broader context we can start to act from a different place, as individuals, as organizations, as whole societies, and from this start to overcome the unintended consequences of a partial view of the world.