| Systems Thinking |
Article Index for Systems |
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Information AboutSystems Thinking |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT SYSTEMS THINKING | |
| anticipatory thinking | |
| futurology | |
| management | |
| systems theory | |
| holism | |
| SHOPPER'S DELIGHT | |
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Systems thinkers consider that:
:For further details see Complex System 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 Loop s 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:
APPLICATIONS Systems thinking is increasingly being used to tackle a wide variety of subjects in fields such as Management , Computing , Engineering and the Environment . SEE ALSO
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