What Is Systems Thinking?

Abstract

Systems thinking is all about realising that there are moments when you have to postpone the doing and start with the thinking. Systems thinking can be illustrated with the metaphor of a lily pond. With a lily, the largest part is hidden under the surface of the water. The beautiful flowers catch our attention and seem to be the only things there. But they can only be there because of an integral system of roots, stems, and nutrients in the water and the soil that makes the lilies grow and surface. Like the lily pond, systems thinking takes the whole context of a situation into account and views it as an interactive system. It looks at the system as it is, it looks over the short-term horizon to identify unintended consequences. Insight into the interactions and relationships between phenomena enables you to intervene more effectively