CREATIVITY AND INOVATION

CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLUTION TOOL :

SYSTEMS THINKING

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NOR AZRI BIN NOR HASHIM

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What is System Thinking? Systems thinking is a unique approach to

problem solving in that it views certain "problems" as parts of an overall system, rather than focusing on individual outcomes and contributing to further development of the undesired element or problem.

"Systems thinking is a discipline for seeing wholes. It is a framework for seeing interrelationships rather than things, for seeing patterns of change rather than static “snapshots.” It is a set of general principles — distilled over the course of the twentieth century, spanning fields as diverse as the physical and social sciences, engineering, and management

-Peter Senge, in The Fifth Discipline

The Concept of Systems Thinking The only way to fully understand why a problem

or element occurs and persists is to understand the part in relation to the whole. Standing in contrast to Descartes’ scientific reductionism and philosophical analysis, it proposes to view systems in a holistic manner.

Consistent with systems philosophy, systems thinking concern an understanding of a system by examining the linkages and interactions between the elements that compose the entirety of the system.

The Concept of Systems Thinking Systems thinking attempts to illustrate that events are

separated by distance and time and that small catalytic events can cause large changes in complex systems.

Acknowledging that an improvement in one area of a system can adversely affect another area of the system, it promotes organizational communication at all levels in order to avoid the silo effect.

Systems thinking techniques may be used to study any kind of system — natural, scientific, engineered, human, or conceptual.

The Advantage of System Thinking Help us see that "failing" systems may really

simply be designed for a purpose other than what we assume or have been told.

Help us see that what may seem an isolated problem is actually part of an interconnected network of related issues.

Help us see the positive and negative feedback cycles that may be affecting an issue of importance to us.

To remain aware of the time delays between the onset and effects of feedback relationships.

The Advantage of System Thinking (ii) Help us see similarities between various types of

problems by allowing us to see them in terms of common Systems Archetypes.

Help us see why measures that may superficially seem likely to worsen the situation may, in fact, be optimal solutions.

Help us see that what may seem an isolated problem is actually part of an interconnected network of related issues.

Examples of System Thinking Using the tenet of "Multifinality", a supermarket could be

considered to be: a "profit making system" from the perspective of

management and owners a "distribution system" from the perspective of the

suppliers an "employment system" from the perspective of

employees a "materials supply system" from the perspective of

customers an "entertainment system" from the perspective of

loiterers

Examples of System Thinking (ii) a "social system" from the perspective of local

residents a "dating system" from the perspective of single

customers

As a result of such thinking, new insights may be gained into how the supermarket works, why it has problems, how it can be improved or how changes made to one component of the system may impact the other components.

Examples of System Thinking (iii)

Young people may join violent gangs and we may try to solve that issue by putting more police on the streets. However, the problem of youngsters joining gangs is often related to family dysfunction in the homes of those youngsters. And the family issues may be related to unemployment, and so on.

Applications Using Systems Thinking Systems thinking is increasingly being used to tackle a wide

variety of subjects in fields such as computing, engineering, epidemiology, information science, health, manufacture, management, and the environment. Here are some example: Organizational architecture Job Design Team Population and Work Unit Design Software quality Programmer Management Leadership development

Organizations Using Systems Thinking

ACASA: The Ackoff Centre for Advancement of System Approaches.

ISSS: International Society for the Systems Sciences

New England Complex Systems Institute Action Learning, Action Research

Association Inc. MIT Systems Thinking Conference

My Conclusions On Systems Thinking

Systems Thinking is a philosophy that looks at the world in terms of just what it says - systems. The entire world can be seen as one big system which encompasses countless smaller systems.

Systems Thinking identifies the elements of a system as feedback cycles and delays. Systems Thinking offers an incredible set of problem solving tools and techniques to help us understand and optimize areas suffering due to complex problems.

MY EXAMPLE ON SYSTEMS THINKING

Rather than trying to improve the braking system on a car by looking in great detail at the material composition of the brake pads (reductionist), the boundary of the braking system may be extended to include the interactions between the: brake disks or drums brake pedal sensors hydraulics driver reaction time tires road conditions weather conditions time of day