SYSTEMS' THINKING

Systems' thinking

Systems' thinking

Introduction

Systems' thinking is a way of looking at associations that emphasizes the interconnections between parts of an association and external natural environments. It is furthermore a procedure for solving organizational difficulties and assisting associations change. Systems' thinking is particularly befitting in the field of public wellbeing because public wellbeing managers and leaders work in large, convoluted organizations whose success counts upon the collaboration of other organizations and institutions.

The centered concepts in system' thinking are interconnections, response, and time delays. Systems' thinking boosts managers to recognize the larger pattern of interconnections, or causal connections, of which troubles are a part. Thus, a difficulty to solve is glimpsed as a symptom of an underlying pattern. Feedback mentions to the kind of cause-and-effect connection discovered among system elements. Systems' thinking proponents recognize two kinds of cause-and-effect connections, reinforcing and balancing relations. An example of a reinforcing connection is when, as staff workload rises, so also does job dissatisfaction, which directs to absenteeism, which in turn directs to even higher workloads. An example of a balancing relative is the short-term solution of paying one-by-one high performers on the staff. The effect appears to be that morale improves and absenteeism proceeds down. The notion of time delays must be factored in, however, for in the long run, one-by-one pays pit staff members against each other, reducing morale and aggravating the underlying problem, which in this case might be unwarranted workloads and lack of group development.

System thinking is the study of complex systems, encompassing such human systems as families, associations, towns, and nations. If you look deeply into any system and investigate the relationships between constituents, you will find infinite complexity.

In a systems approach to a difficulty, you start by recognizing that there is no inherent end to a system. ...