Systems Thinking 30 Day Sprint

Learn how systems thinking is a holistic approach to understanding the way parts fit together in dynamic relationships to make up a whole system.

Reductionism is “an explanation of complex life-science processes and phenomena in terms of the laws of physics and chemistry; also, a theory or doctrine that complete reductionism is possible” – Merriam Webster

In order to make a positive impact, it is critical to develop your own individual agency and actions. To do that, you first have to wrap your head around the core concepts of systems thinking training.

Explore how diving under the surface helps you uncover the less obvious aspects of the system.

The goal of any systems exploration is a perspective shift through gaining insights, understanding relationships and connections, and discovering things that were not obvious at first glance.

Dive into how a system is a collection of things that interact to produce some sort of behavior that makes up the whole. Find out how systems can be defined by their actions, their interrelationships, their functionality or their potential.

Although the world is made up of endless large and small interconnected systems, there are three key systems that should be considered: social systems, industrial systems, and ecosystems.

A systems thinker should employ several main tools or approaches in order to think in a dynamic and holistic way. This systems thinking training provides an overview to get you started.

A system map is a visual representation of a system’s relationships within a given boundary or scope. It’s an important tool for integrating the dynamics and conditions that enable a phenomenon to exist.

Insights are the “aha” moments that emerge from your brain when you’re synthesizing data and developing a better understanding of the system.

Any nonlinear pattern formation can be considered emergences, such as birds flocking in formation, traffic flowing at a steady pace, or the intricate fractal patterns of snowflakes.

Indigenous and First Nations around the world has a systems-based worldview that enabled an interconnected perspective between nature and human culture. We’ll look at some of the modern proponents, key fields, the evolution of systems theories in the Western sense, and how they have branched off into different practices.

Systems dynamics are the activities that occur within a system; it looks at how the elements of the system interrelate and interact. There are a few approaches to exploring the dynamics of a system, such as feedback, delays and causal relationships.

Understanding feedback loops and systems dynamics is about gaining a perspective of causality: how one thing results in another thing in a dynamic and constantly evolving system.

Nearly everything can be defined by a function, purpose, or potential in some way. This helps us to isolate the functional elements within a system.

When we say all systems are dynamic, this also describes the dynamic relationships, meaning things are impacting each other within the system.

A stock is anything that exists within the system (like people, trees, money, cats, pineapples, students, guns, happiness, etc.), and flows are the feedbacks between these stocks (like how money moves through the economy, or how water flows through a waterway) and the change in stocks over time.

Systems mapping is a tool for visualizing and thinking through the complex interconnected elements that exist within a system. It’s not a mind map and it’s not about the individual parts. It’s a way of exploring and finding the connections that exist between things.

This is where we look more to the single aspects of what is going on in a system to understand how “A” impacts “B” and what the flow of this interconnection is. A causal loop diagram essentially documents how things interact.

The objective is to tease out the relationships between significant elements or agents within the system, allowing you to see the most dominant relationships between recurring feedback loops.

Archetypes are recurring patterns of behavior that give us insights into the structures which drive systems. They offer us a way of deciphering systems dynamics across various disciplines, scenarios, or contexts.

Many systems have delays, which is the difference in time between the action and the desired outcome, or even the undesired outcome becoming visible.

We can explore how behaviors change over time by documenting and charting them. Insights into the dynamics of the system can then support ideas about what types of interventions have previously been influential and what potential interventions could alter the system in the desired way.

There are several different types of systems modeling tools you can use. Some are analog and others are digital. The practice of exploring, defining, and modeling complex systems is a fundamental part of systems thinking training and practice.

Being able to observe a phenomenon is not only useful from a research and systems exploration perspective, but it’s also fundamental to developing a personal reflective and mindful relationship with the world around you.

An intervention involves intentionally seeking to shift the status quo of a scenario, situation, or system. From a system’s perspective, interventions are not all either good or equal.

Connection points and relationships often provide the most interesting opportunities for intervention, but exploring a system’s dynamics and understanding the causal relationships empowers you to figure out where the best place to intervene is.

After you’ve done a thorough exploration of the system to find all the ins and outs of the dynamics that feed it, and you’ve analyzed your insights to put forth an intervention point, you’ll be able to create a Theory of Change (TOC). This is where you begin to move the intervention from thought to action.

Soft Systems Methodology and Ladder of Inference are covered to expand your systems knowledge.

Now that you have the habits and skills of a systems thinker, consider the ways in which simple systems changes affect your day-to-day life and how you can advance your ability to interact and influence systems.