To be a systems thinker, you must take a step back so the whole picture comes into view. This is no simple task, as we are taught in school to focus on one component of a system at a time. Life doesn’t work that way, though. People don’t work that way.

History and Summary

The concept of systems thinking was developed in 1956 by Professor Jay Forrester of MIT’s Sloan School of Management. Since the birth of this idea, there have been plenty of publicly available explanations. If you aren’t familiar with systems thinking and want a thorough definition, click here. 

In short, systems thinking is a way of looking at the world through a macroscopic lens. It enables one to see the consequences of actions. Systems thinking enhances our understanding of the connectivity in the world and our personal impact on how it functions. A systems thinker is able to acknowledge each component of an idea and consider how altering a particular component might impact the final outcome.

Day to Day Systems Thinking

In our day to day lives we are confronted with many decisions to make. The most important decisions can often lead to extremely different outcomes, some which are good, and some which are not ideal. Systems thinking should be used for making these important decisions.

In life, we have so many opportunities to “learn the hard way.” During these experiences, a systems thinker will pay great attention to the lesson learned or the feedback given. By clearly understanding the outcome of your actions, you can be sure to change the undesired outcome in the future by changing your actions. Most times, a catastrophic outcome is the result of several actions. In order to understand exactly which action caused a negative outcome, you must have a clear understanding of the impact of each action taken.

At this point, systems thinking might seem complex, that’s because it is. It is not easy, and might even be impossible to have a fully holistic outlook. How can you possibly think about all of your choices while simultaneously thinking about the outcomes of these choices? All we can do is try.

Create the System You Want to Live In

The quote below was probably the first thing to get me started on truly understanding what systems thinking means in my life:

“Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become your character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.”

-Lao-Tze

Each little action, even just a thought, is capable of changing our whole destiny because actions build upon each other. If we mess up from the beginning, the consecutive steps will probably follow suit in messing up. To avoid screwing up our destiny, we need to think about the implications of every step along the way.

Remember that you are part of a much larger system. We are all world contributors in our own ways and our actions have the ability to make an impact on bigger things than ourselves. Much bigger things. Be a part of a system that leads to positive change in the world.