Subject: Cognitive Maturity

Posted by Alice Squires on 11/16/2007
In Reply To:Cognitive Maturity Posted by Ron Miller on 11/16/2007

Message:

Yes, it is a quagmire. And so to is the definition of systems thinking. I did a bunch of research already, including getting a sense of how Forrester, Senge and Richmond define systems thinking (or how they feel about it, especially Jay), and I decided to develop my own definition based on everything I read. It's alarming some of the definitions out there. What I decided was that systems thinking was really intended to mean a way of thinking that followed systems theory, and the developments in systems theory, and that's perhaps why the definition has evolved as our understanding of systems has evolved. So here is what I came up with, comments welcome:

“Systems thinking is a dynamic thought process guided by a systems theory based mental model of the world. Systems thinkers consider system behavior over time and space.” (Squires, 2007)


The thought process we use to think about systems is dynamic because the system is constantly changing and our understanding of the system is constantly changing. As our understanding of systems theory changes, so too does our systems theory based mental model. Systems theory provides us the framework that we use to understand systems. There is no need to reinvent systems theory into a topic called systems thinking; systems thinking is simply the application of systems theory to our thought process thereby changing the way we see the world.

However, I also have a list of what I think are the main aspects of system thinking:

Understanding the role of the system in its larger context – physically, functionally, procedurally – and over time; understanding the dynamic and emergent properties of the system and its environment.
Understanding the parts of the system in the larger context of the system (not separate from the system).
Understanding both the interactive nature of the system and the role of feedback in the system, both positive (self-reinforcing) and negative (self-correcting), both internalized and external.
Understanding and resolving the complexity of the system as a whole by recognizing patterns in the non-linear system behavior over time. Understanding how the patterns are influenced by the interdependencies of the vital and ‘system sensitive’ functions, processes, and elements of the system; the interactive nature of the system; internal and external system feedback; and the emergent properties of the system and its environment.
Understanding the impact of changes to the system; understanding how to change the system to achieve the desired system behavior over time.
That's a mouthful!

Take Care,
--
Alice

Follow Ups:

Definition of System Thinking - Jack Harich 11/16/2007 
Definition of System Thinking - Roy Greenhalgh 11/16/2007
Definition of System Thinking - Jack Harich 11/16/2007
Definition of System Thinking - Prof. Dr. Niall Palfreyman 11/20/2007
Definition of System Thinking - Alice Squires 11/16/2007
Definition of System Thinking - Jack Harich 11/16/2007