Insight #17: Systematic thinking

Hello again and welcome to Insight #17: Systematic thinking.

• There's a saying that succinctly goes: “everything is interconnected”. And that is becoming more and more true everyday. I really don't have to go into examples here, you know what I'm talking about.

• Interconnection is the foundation of all systems. A system can be defined as a group of things (or nodes) that relate and act with eachother. Under this very broad definition a lot of things can be thought of as systems, the electric system of your house, your car, your body, the system of people you work with, etc.

• I really want you to appreciate the scope that systemic thinking covers. It is massive. And yet, most people don't even know what systemic thinking is or that it even exists. Which is why I want to bring it to light today.

• So, we already know what a system is. But how do we think systemically? Well, it is simple in theory; we need to organize and map all of the systems nodes, which can be individuals, equipment, locations, etc; basically all the end points that we interact with and that relate to other nodes. And then, perhaps more difficultly, we map or at least estimate the interconnections between those nodes.

• The hardship of this task depends completely on the system at hand. Simpler things have fewer nodes and fewer connections. In theory the other end can be infinitely complicated. Still, with systems thinking we can better understand and manipulate all of them.

• To more accurately grasp systems thinking, we need a few pillars to help our minds when encountering any system. Some of these are:

0.- Everything can be thought of as a system.

1.- All systems tend towards self preservation. (Survival)

2.-Therefore all systems naturally resist change.

3.-So to change systems, it is not enough to change a connection or node. We need to think big and understand the full impact of the change and how all connections and nodes will be affected.

• Just with these 4 we can understand a lot of the ‘wrong” in the world. And, most importantly, ourselves. We think we can isolate some part of us, or of society, and enact change. However under this paradigm it is obvious that that is a fools errand. True systemic change is difficult, it takes a lot of effort and especially understanding, and it also takes time for the system to adjust.

This is a pretty big topic so I will leave you with this brief introduction. As a leaving homework I would like you to try and recognize the systems around you. Look for nodes, and their relationships. Good luck!