Systems Thinking - What is Systems Thinking?
What is Systems Thinking? | Why
Use Systems Thinking Techniques? | What
is a System?
Systems Thinkiing Methodologies | Systems
Thinking Applications
What is Systems Thinking
Systems thinking involves the use of various techniques to study systems of many kinds. It includes studying things in a holistic way, rather than purely reductionist techniques. It aims to gain insights into the whole by understanding the linkages, interactions and processes between the elements that comprise the whole "system". Systems thinking can help avoid the silo effect, where a lack of organizational communication can cause a change in one area of a system to adversely affect another area of the system.
Systems thinkers consider that:
- a "system" is a dynamic and complex whole, interacting as a structured functional unit in equilibrium
- information flows between the different elements that compose the system
- a system is a community situated within an environment
- information flows from and to the surrounding environment via semi-permeable membranes or boundaries.