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Definition of System Thinking
Posted by Alice Squires on 11/16/2007
In Reply To:Definition of System Thinking Posted by Jack Harich on 11/16/2007
Hi all,
I would like to jump in and offer a perspective from systems engineering.
For me, as a systems engineer, structure reminds me of the physical view of the system. We have an operational view, which typically comes first, a functional view, which is next, and finally the physical view. The functional and physical views are tightly linked, but we emphasize functional before physical. We have found its human nature to jump to the physical view and thereby limit the scope of what's possible in the design.
In reading your definition two things come to mind, I hope you don't mind my sharing them.
First, I have many quotes from Jay Forrester of his feeling and concerns about the term 'systems thinking', and I view his commentary in that light.
For example, the most recent Jay Forrester quote I have is from Lawrence M.
Fisher's article Fisher, L. M. (8-26-05). "The Prophet of Unintended Consequences." strategy+business
http://www.strategy-business.com/press/16635507/05308:
"Jay Forrester confesses to a certain ambivalence about Dr. Senge's book. He is glad of its success, but disappointed that the book doesn't adequately explore the assumptions that went into the models underlying the archetypes.
"The trouble with systems thinking," he says, "is it allows you to misjudge a system. You have this high-order, nonlinear, dynamic system in front of you as a diagram on the page. You presume you can understand its behavior by looking at it, and there's simply nobody who can do that." For his part, Dr. Senge says his mentor's concern is justified, but there is still a value in introducing systems thinking to people who may never go on to system dynamics." (p. 10-11, Fisher)
Second, the Wikipedia definition holds no weight to me. I have done a quick analysis of the first paragraph and here is what I have to say about it.
The reader becomes completely tripped up reading the first sentence. Systems thinking can be applied to the study of social systems. Yet, it is not accurate to define systems thinking as a social approach. Systems thinking is, however, a main component of systems dynamics which is concerned with change in system behavior over time. There is a reference to the fact that components may [they say will] act differently when isolated from a system, but that is not the point at all. The point is that system behavior transcends the behavior of the individual components in a system, and a systems thinker seeks to understand that behavior in the context of the system, not as individual parts. The references to Descartes and scientific reductionism only complicates the idea that systems thinking focuses on viewing systems in a holistic manner. The definition refers to understanding the 'linkages' and 'interactions' of a system and this is a key concept of systems thinking; however, a better way to say this is that systems thinking deals with understanding interdependencies and interrelationships within the system, but in its larger context. This is a very poorly worded definition, IMHO, and I suspect the writer has not [yet] done sufficient research on the topic nor has a solid background in any type of system related discipline. I would recommend against using or copying anything from Wikipedia as it is not viewed as a credible source and was not intended as such be its creator, but that's another topic altogether! As a teacher, I don't accept references to Wikipedia on my students' papers, and many other faculty also follow this practice, and this is a good example of why!
Take Care,
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Alice
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