I think systems thinking is a powerful business tool.
We tend to think of organisations in mechanical terms that can be understood by analysis of the parts.
With systems thinking we get a totally different understanding. It helps us look at organisations like living systems. Living systems can’t be understood by understanding the parts. They are far more than the parts. Just like the human body is far more than the individual organs that make it up.
Systems thinking explains the ‘emergence’ of many important things like trust, culture, relationships and self-reliance that cannot be explained with mechanical thinking. All emergence takes is for each person to follow a few simple rules.
Systems thinking helps understand “wicked problems”. These are problems where the solution is technically difficult and there is no consensus about how to fix it.
Bruce Holland explains the benefits to business of systems thinking:
http://www.virtual.co.nz/uploads/BruceHolland/AnnaSystemsThinking.mp3
No comments:
Post a Comment