The Systems Thinker – Dynamic Systems: Make Better Decisions and Find Lasting Solutions Using Scientific Analysis

Thinking in systems may sound like a distant yet appealing concept to the layman. It has a smart, technical, objective, and superior cognitive air to it, right? However, when I ask my students “What do you think ‘thinking in systems’ means?” they are usually confused and can’t truly articulate a one-sentence answer.

 

I can’t blame them. Because there is no articulate, definitive answer to this question yet. Experts work hard to give a comprehensive definition to systems thinking but even those summaries that get close to perfect are missing some essential parts. The term has been defined and redefined across the decades but no one has been able to press this intangible concept into a statement that will allow it to be measured.

 

Thus I can’t give you a one-sentence answer either to what exactly systems thinking is, but I will provide you with a deep understanding through a multilayer analysis.

 

The dictionary defines a system as a group or an arrangement of things that work towards a common goal. Wikipedia says that a system is “a group of interdependent items that interact regularly to perform a task.” We can state that the grounding principle of a system therefore is something more than a collection of its parts.[i]

 

A system is composed by parts that we call elements, which are interconnected to serve a purpose or function.

 

Let’s take a farm as an example. A farm is a system which has the field, workers, seeds, machinery, and irrigation as elements. The different relations between these elements show how they are interconnected. They form, or are organized, into these interconnections for their overall function: to produce wheat, for instance.

 

A motorbike is also a system. This is a mechanical system with a number of elements like the engine, wheels, brake, lamps, and stickers, which, interacting together, serve the function to work as a unit of transportation.

 

Let’s take a look at a natural system: a plant cell. This is a biological system. A plant cell is a mixture of organelles that are interconnected to perform metabolic processes. This enables the cell to function as an entire system.

 

If we take a more distant look on our three systems—the farm, the motorbike, and the plant cell—we can see that these independent systems are part of larger systems. On a small or large scale, these sub-systems affect the larger system above them, and conversely, the large system has definite influence over the smaller subsystem.

 

For example, the farm belongs to a system of regional economy. Although the whey production of one farm may not have significant impact on the overall economy of a country, it matters. At the same time, economic fluctuations, price changes, and the shifting of supply and demand can have a large impact on the farm.

 

The motorbike belongs to a larger system, too. For example, the system of local traffic. One motorbike doesn’t affect the larger system too much if it functions well, delivering its rider safely from A to B. However, if the motorcycle rider has an accident which causes a blockage on the road and a heavy traffic jam, it has a temporary, yet significant impact on the system. The traffic system has an even greater impact on the motorcycle driver in forms of all-time regulations, a speed limit, an age requirement, maintenance conditions, etc.

 

The plant cell, while it is an individual particle, works together with other individual cells to sustain the function of the larger system, let’s say a flower. The combined effort of the particles helps the plant survive, gain nutrients, photosynthesize, and grow.

 

All of the big systems mentioned above, the regional economy, the local traffic, and the flower belong to even bigger systems, and so on. No system is independent; none of them live in isolation. They are interdependent.

 

Following the thought thread of system interdependence, we can say that systems thinking is “a system of thinking about systems.”[ii] Using the three parts of systems, elements, interconnections, and function or purpose, systems thinking allows us to:

 

• “Understand how the behavior of a system arises from the interaction of its agents over time (i.e., dynamic complexity);
• Discover and represent feedback processes (both positive and negative) hypothesized to underlie observed patterns of system behavior;
• Identify stock and flow relationships;
• Recognize delays and understand their impact;
• Identify nonlinearities;
• Recognize and challenge the boundaries of mental (and formal) models;
• Recognize interconnections;
• Understand dynamic behavior;
• Differentiate types of flows and variables;
• Use conceptual models;
• Create simulation models;
• Test policies;
• Incorporate multiple perspectives;
• Work within a space where the boundary or scope of problem or system may be ‘fuzzy’;
• Understand diverse operational contexts of the system;
• Identify inter- and intrarelationships and dependencies;
• Understand complex system behavior; and most important of all,
• Reliably predict the impact of change to the system.”[iii] (Ross D. Arnold, 2015)

 

This book focuses on identifying nonlinearities and analyzing the dynamic behavior of complex systems. I will introduce the concept of chaos, where I will show how small differences in the way things are now can bring great consequences in the way things will be in the future. We will explore the phenomena of chaotic behavior, taking a closer look at the Butterfly Effect, bifurcations, phase transitions, and fractals. For transparency and easier understanding, we will focus on systems related to science and mathematics.

 

In these fields we distinguish two types of systems: linear and nonlinear. Let’s take a closer look at what they are.