A Systemic View of Organisations

Abstract

Looking at organisations from a systems thinking perspective counterbalances our instinctive reactions. Systems thinking sees organisations as living systems in which everything is interrelated. The complexity within a system is built up from just two basic elements: reinforcing and balancing loops.In an unchecked reinforcing loop a process runs out of hand until it passes its system boundaries. In a balancing loop the system returns to its equilibrium after an intervention as if nothing has happened. Combinations of several loops can describe a complex dynamic of counteracting forces, enabling to understand which interventions can change the system.