systems thinking drawing causal loop diagrams to effect change marc evers – piecemeal growth ...

Systems Thinking

drawing causal loop diagrams to effect change

Marc Evers – Piecemeal Growthwww.piecemealgrowth.net

Willem van den Ende – Living Softwarewww.willemvandenende.com

complex systems

linear cause-effect thinking is not sufficient

need a different way of thinking & seeing

the whole

interrelations

self-reinforcing and balancing loops

nonlinearity

firefightingtackle root causes

let's play...

EventsEvents

PatternsPatterns

StructureStructure

Mental modelsMental models

perceived competencenew balls thrown in

balls in air

+

+

+

perceived competencenew balls thrown in

balls in air

+

+

+

-

avg time to catch

% unsuccessful catches

balls dropped

-

+

-

-

avg time to catch

% unsuccessful catches

balls dropped

-

+

-

perceived competencenew balls thrown in

balls in air

+

+

+

balls on the floor

people chasing balls

people catching

+

+ -

+

water temperature

+

desired temperature

difference

warm water supply

+

+-

delay

variable

causal relation(same)

causal relation(opposite)

loop (balancing)

diagram of effects aka causal loop diagram

BA+

BA-

BAS

BAO

BA BA

same effect opposite effect

BA

management decision

creating a diagram

1. tell the story– ask questions, determine scope and focus question

2. collect variables– observable or measurable– behaviour over time

3. determine cause effect relations

4. look for loops– reinforcing, stabilizing

5. simplify– 7 ± 2 variables - remove unrelated variables– split up the diagram

6. identify possible interventions

background

systems theorycybernetics

system dynamicsorganizational learning

Peter M. Senge The Fifth Discipline

Gerald M. WeinbergQuality Software Management

Linda Booth SweeneyDennis Meadows

Systems Thinking Playbook

systems thinking in context

questions