Systemic thinking

Slides from a team presentation on thinking beyond ourselves and beyond the task. A summary of reading on the subject of systemic thinking - BARTLETT, G (2001). SYSTEMIC THINKING
a simple thinking technique for gaining systemic (situation-wide) focus.

Transcript

1. Systemic thinking Thinking about a complex world differently Image: thumbnail from a work of art at http://www.klarireis.com/data/photos/315_1systemic_circulation.jpg
2. There exists a perception that is gradually spreading that many of the systems supporting daily life need radical overhaul Photograph: Unknown/ Royalty-Free/CORBIS
3. - Geoff Mulgan,
 Chief Executive of Nesta “I’m convinced that the ability to think and act systemically is the greatest intellectual and practical challenge of this century – relevant to climate change, economic growth, water use and digital technology and just about everything else.”
4. Analytical thinking
5. Our primary thinking tool is analysis – taking things apart. Analysis is a powerful thinking tool – for understanding the parts of a situation. When we break things down into smaller and smaller components, we tend to lose sight of the interactions between them.
6. Systemic thinking
7. The fundamental assumption is that everything is systemic. In other words, everything interacts with (affects and is affected by) the things around it. Everything. Image: wikimedia.org
8. We can’t deal with the parts of a situation in isolation; we have to deal with them in concert. 
 
 We have to deal with both the elements of a situation and how they interact with one another.
9. Systemic thinking deliberately finds repeating patterns across a system or situation. Analytical thinking is more focused on identifying differences than similarities.
10. Performance limiting problems Systemic breakthrough solutions
11. Systemic modelling
12. Contextual Levels of Analysis model