Systems Thinking

Contextual Citation

Systems thinking has a certain simplicity and elegance to it — basically, a shift from seeing the world as a machine to understanding it as a network… To deal with nonlinear systems requires a change of perspective from objects to relationships, from measuring to mapping, and this is why visual thinking becomes important.”

~ Fritjof Capra [1]

Description

Kathia Laszlo:

"The word “system” derives from the Greek “synhistanai” which means “to place together.”

In his seminal book Systems Thinking, Systems Practice, Peter Checkland defined systems thinking as thinking about the world through the concept of “system.” This involves thinking in terms of processes rather than structures, relationships rather than components, interconnections rather than separation. The focus of the inquiry is on the organization and the dynamics generated by the complex interaction of systems embedded in other systems and composed by other systems.

From a cognitive perspective, systems thinking integrates analysis and synthesis. Natural science has been primarily reductionistic, studying the components of systems and using quantitative empirical verification. Human science, as a response to the use of positivistic methods for studying human phenomena, has embraced more holistic approaches, studying social phenomena through qualitative means to create meaning. Systems thinking bridges these two approaches by using both analysis and synthesis to create knowledge and understanding and integrating an ethical perspective. Analysis answers the ‘what’ and ‘how’ questions while synthesis answers the ‘why’ and ‘what for’ questions. By combining analysis and synthesis, systems thinking creates a rich inquiring platform for approaches such as social systems design, developed by Bela H. Banathy, and evolutionary systems design, as Alexander Laszlo and myself have developed to include a deeper understanding of a system in its larger context as well as a vision of the future for co-creating ethical innovations for sustainability.

Just like the first image of Earth from outer space had a huge impact on our ability to see the unity of our planet, systems thinking is a way of seeing ourselves as part of larger interconnected systems." (http://saybrook.typepad.com/complexity/2011/07/from-systems-thinking-to-systems-being.html)

Characteristics

Tom Atlee:

"To give a sense of the eclectic nature of my view of systems thinking, here are some of the interconnected system-related understandings and resources that I believe we can and should be attending to and using more consciously:

• feedback dynamics: incentives and disincentives, reinforcers and magnifiers, resistance dynamics, resilience...

• self-organizing dynamics: the intrinsic nature of things and motivations of people, actual and potential connections, diversity, shared purpose...

• positivity: the attractive powers of possibility, appreciation, fun...

• collectivity: networks, relationships, community and tribal dynamics, mutuality, empathy, interdependence...

• co-evolutionary dynamics: learning systems, developmental patterns, interactive processes...

• paradigms: narratives, stories, scenarios, worldviews, assumptions and beliefs that shape a whole activity...

• power dynamics: freedom, privilege, oppression, vulnerability, limitations, leverage, different forms of power...

• life energy: the spirit, essence, aliveness, needs, passions, aspirations of the whole system and of its parts...

• contexts: physical, temporal, social, psychological contexts - including history, expectations, culture, circumstances...

• discernment without judgment: the gifts and limitations of each person, thing, or dynamic, and where it fits in the bigger picture...

• holonics: nested systems - the reality that every thing is both a whole and a part of larger wholes, and what that means...

• perspective: scale, deep time (long-term), multiple viewpoints, multiple intelligences...

• emergence: novelty, breakthrough, co-creativity, surprise...

• ultimate oneness: the non-local, non-dual, intuitive, resonant, synchronous, transcendent unity of life, its manifestations and dynamics...

• inquiry: humility, curiosity, and exploration in the face of complexity, novelty, contradiction, paradox, and uncertainty...."

(http://www.co-intelligence.org/)

Michael K. Stone

"Lesson #1: To promote systems change, foster community and cultivate networks.

Most of the qualities of a living system, notes Fritjof Capra, are aspects of a single fundamental network pattern: nature sustains life by creating and nurturing communities. Lasting change frequently requires a critical mass or density of interrelationships within a community.... To achieve systems change, leaders must cross department boundaries and bring people addressing parts of the problem around the same table.... It's necessary to keep asking: "Who's being left out?" and "Who [else] should be in the room?"

• Lesson #2: Work at multiple levels of scale.

"Nested systems" is a core ecological principle. Like Russian "matryoshka" dolls that fit one into the other, most systems contain other systems and are contained within larger systems: cells within organs within individuals within communities; classes within schools within districts within counties, states, and the nation.... Changing a system affects both the systems within it and the systems in which it is nested. The challenge for change agents is choosing the right level, or levels, of scale for the changes they seek. The answer is often working at multiple levels: top down, bottom up, outside in, and inside out....

• Lesson #3: Make space for self-organization.

Fritjof Capra writes, "Perhaps the central concept in the systems view of life" is that the pattern favored by life "is a network pattern capable of self-organization." He adds, "Life constantly reaches out into novelty, and this property of all living systems is the origin of development, learning, and evolution." Networks that can effect systems change will sometimes self-organize [in desirable ways] if you set up the right conditions....

• Lesson #4: Seize breakthrough opportunities when they arise.

Living systems generally remain in a stable state. That's a good thing; otherwise, we'd be living in chaos. But it's also why systems change can be so difficult. From time to time, however, a system encounters a point of instability where it is confronted by new circumstances or information that it can't absorb without giving up some of its old structures, behaviors, or beliefs. That instability can precipitate either a breakdown or — due to systems' capacities for self-organization — a breakthrough to new possibilities....

• Lesson #5: Facilitate — but give up the illusion that you can direct — change.

"We never succeed in directing or telling people how they must change," observes Margaret Wheatley. "We don't succeed by handing them a plan, or pestering them with our interpretations, or relentlessly pressing forward with our agenda, believing that volume and intensity will convince them to see it our way."

So what can you do? In the provocative maxim of Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela, "You can never direct a living system. You can only disturb it." How do you disturb a system? By introducing information that contradicts old assumptions. By demonstrating that things people believe they can't do are already being accomplished somewhere.... By inviting new people into the conversation. By rearranging structures so that people relate in ways they're not used to. By presenting issues from different perspectives.

Meanwhile, you can create conditions that take advantage of the system's capacity for generating creative solutions. Nurture networks of connection and communication, create climates of trust and mutual support, encourage questioning, and reward innovation. Effective leaders recognize emergent novelty, articulate it, and incorporate it into organizations' designs. Leaders sometimes lead best when they loosen control and take the risk of dispersing authority and responsibility.

• Lesson #6: Assume that change is going to take time.

"Quick fixes are an oxymoron," says Margaret Wheatley. "If leaders would learn anything from the past many years, it's that there are no quick fixes. For most organizations, meaningful change is at least a three- to five-year process — though this seems impossibly long. Yet multiyear change efforts are the hard reality we must face."

Anticipate that you'll need time for the education and training required for people to change attitudes, adopt new practices, or use new tools. Set high goals, but take manageable steps. Look for intermediate achievements that allow people to experience — and celebrate — success and to receive recognition on the way to the ultimate goal.

Taking time for stakeholders to understand each other's concerns and learn to trust each other's motivations and intentions can be time well spent....

• Lesson #7: Be prepared to be surprised.

Change in living systems is nonlinear. As they develop and evolve, living systems generate phenomena that are not predictable from the properties of their individual parts, much as the wetness of water cannot be forecast by adding together the properties of hydrogen and oxygen. Systems theorists call these "emergent properties."....

The art and science of systems change are continually evolving. We encourage people to experiment with these seven lessons — and to expect surprises. Frequently it's the unanticipated consequences that are the most rewarding and effective results of immersion in dynamic systems." (http://www.dailygood.org/story/608/7-lessons-for-leaders-michael-k-stone-zenobia-barlow/)

Donna Meadows on Places to Intervene in the System

Donna Meadows:

"PLACES TO INTERVENE IN A SYSTEM

(in increasing order of effectiveness)

• Constants, parameters, numbers (such as subsidies, taxes, standards).

• The sizes of buffers and other stabilizing stocks, relative to their flows.

• The structure of material stocks and flows (such as transport networks, population age structures).

• The lengths of delays, relative to the rate of system change.

• The strength of negative feedback loops, relative to the impacts they are trying to correct against.

• The gain around driving positive feedback loops.

• The structure of information flows (who does and does not have access to information).

• The rules of the system (such as incentives, punishments, constraints).

• The power to add, change, evolve, or self-organize system structure.

• The goals of the system.

• The mindset or paradigm out of which the system — its goals, structure, rules, delays, parameters — arises.

• The power to transcend paradigms...."

(http://www.donellameadows.org/archives/leverage-points-places-to-intervene-in-a-system/)

Discussion

From Systems Thinking to Systems Being

Kathia Laszlo:

"Systems being involves embodying a new consciousness, an expanded sense of self, a recognition that we cannot survive alone, that a future that works for humanity needs also to work for other species and the planet. It involves empathy and love for the greater human family and for all our relationships – plants and animals, earth and sky, ancestors and descendents, and the many peoples and beings that inhabit our Earth. This is the wisdom of many indigenous cultures around the world, this is part of the heritage that we have forgotten and we are in the process of recovering.

Systems being and systems living brings it all together: linking head, heart and hands. The expression of systems being is an integration of our full human capacities. It involves rationality with reverence to the mystery of life, listening beyond words, sensing with our whole being, and expressing our authentic self in every moment of our life. The journey from systems thinking to systems being is a transformative learning process of expansion of consciousness—from awareness to embodiment." (http://saybrook.typepad.com/complexity/2011/07/from-systems-thinking-to-systems-being.html)

More Information

Bibliography

From Michael Stone [2]:

Fritjof Capra, "The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems" (New York: Anchor Books, 1996); and "The Hidden Connections: A Science for Sustainable Living" (New York: Anchor Books, 2002).

Joanna Macy, "Coming Back to Life: Practices to Reconnect Ourselves, Our World" (Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers, 1998).

Humberto M. Maturana and Francisco J. Varela, "The Tree of Knowledge: The Biological Roots of Human Understanding" (Boston: Shambhala, 1992).

Donella Meadows, "Thinking in Systems: A Primer" (White River, Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2008).

Margaret Wheatley, "Finding Our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time" (San Francisco: Barrett-Kohler Publishers, 2005, 2007); and "Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World" (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2006).