Systems thinking is perhaps one of the most critical tools in handling the complexity in coping challenges we are facing now and in the coming decades. This is a brief introduction to the basic concepts in System Thinking. It is defined and organized in a way that can provide those basics for every audience. I hope you find it helpful!

1. Introduction to
system and
system
thinking
Behzad Behdani
System thinker, SDG expert,
Concerned about our Planet

2. Outline
• What is a System?
• What is system thinking?
• Some main principles of system thinking
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3. What is a System?
- “A set of elements or parts
that is coherently organized
and interconnected in a
pattern or structure that
produces a characteristic set of
behaviors, often classified as its
function or purpose.” (Donella
Meadows, 2008)
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- “A system is a complex whole the functioning of which
depends on its parts and the interactions between those
parts” (Jackson, 2003)
“A system is more than the sum of its parts” (Ackoff 1973)

4. Concept of System
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• Systems consists of three things:
1. Elements
2. Interconnections
3. Function (non-human system) or Purpose (human system)
• Examples of systems
- Sports team - School
- City - Factory
- National Economy - IT system
- Forest - Solar system

5. System vs. Collection
• A system isn’t just any collection of things: “A collection
is also composed of a number of parts but they are just
dumped together and are not interconnected”,
(Sherwood 2002)
• How to know whether you are looking at a system or
just a bunch of stuff :
A) Can you identify parts? . . . and
B) Do the parts affect each other? . . . and
C) Do the parts together produce an effect that is
different from the effect of each part on its own? . . .
D) Does the effect, the behavior over time, persist in a
variety of circumstances?
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“The behaviour of a system cannot be known just by
knowing the elements of the system” (Meadows 2008)

6. Traditional reductionism analysis
vs. system thinking
• Reductionism: a complex system is nothing but the
sum of its parts
• If you want to understand (and subsequently,
optimize) the system, just decompose it to
elements, analyse (and optimize) those elements
and parts
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7. Traditional reductionism analysis
vs. system thinking
• Reductionism: a complex system is nothing but the
sum of its parts
• If you want to understand (and subsequently,
optimize) the system, just decompose it to
elements, analyse (and optimize) those elements
and parts
7

8. Traditional reductionism analysis
vs. system thinking
• Traditional analysis focuses on the individual pieces
of what is being studied.
• Systems thinking focuses on how the things being
studied interact with the other constituents of the
system.
• Instead of isolating smaller and smaller parts of
the system being studied, systems thinking works
by expanding its view to consider larger and larger
numbers of interactions as an issue is being studied.
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9. What is Systems Thinking?
• “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...” (Senge, 2006)
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10. Reductionism analysis leads to sub-
optimization
• Looking at parts or elements (and optimizing them)
separately, may lead to (and sometimes hide the) conflicts
and sub-optimization
• For example, in a company, when the marketing department
pushes the company to produce a greater variety and number
of products, the operation department may prefer low
inventory of products >> the higher cost of production can be
to the detriment of the company as a whole.
• Ackoff: systems may be destroyed by separately improving
the performance of one or more of their parts
• The aim of systems thinking is to understand the functioning
of the system as a whole: holistic thinking
10

11. Linear problem solving vs. non-
linear problem solving
• Problem: insect A is damaging crops
• Linear problem solving: spray pesticides to kill the
insects
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Pesticide application Insect A is declined Crops flourish again

12. Linear problem solving vs. non-
linear problem solving
• Problem: insect A is damaging crops
• Linear problem solving: spray pesticides to kill the
insects
12
Pesticide application Insect A is declined
Crops damaged even
more
Population of
Insect B is growing

13. Unintended Consequences & cyclic
influences
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14. System perspective: events, patterns,
structure, and mental models
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Iceberg of Systems Thinking
Source: https://blog.methodkit.com/the-iceberg-of-how-

15. Events vs. patterns/ system structure/
mental models
• Systems fool us by presenting
themselves as a single event.
15
Pandemonium ruled on the trading floor of the New
York Stock Exchange on October 29, 1929. Photo:
Hulton Archive/Getty Image
The stock market crashed in
1929, making headlines.
Black Tuesday was the fourth and last day
of the stock market crash of 1929. It took
place on October 29, 1929. Investors
traded a record 16.4 million shares. They
lost $14 billion on the New York Stock
Exchange, worth $199 billion in 2017
dollars.
The moment the opening bell rang, the
Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 8 points
to 252.6. Panicked sellers were shouting
"Sell! Sell!" so loudly that no one heard the
bell ring. In a half hour, they sold three
million shares and lost $2 million.
The prominent banks of the day tried to
stop the crash. Morgan Bank, Chase
National Bank and National City Bank of
New York bought shares of stocks trying to
restore confidence in the stock market.
Instead, the intervention signaled the
exact opposite. Investors saw it as a sign
that the situation is not normal. When the
market closed at 3 p.m., it had lost 11
percent of its value, closing at 230.7.
(Source: "The Crash of 1929," Time
Magazine, October 29, 2008.)

16. Events vs. patterns/ system structure/
mental models
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Events
Patterns
System structure
Systems fool us by presenting themselves as a single event.
Mental models

17. Events vs. patterns/ system structure/
mental models
• Long-term behavior provides clues to the
underlying system structure. Do not look just at
the events; look at the patterns.
• System structures are created by the choices
people make consciously or unconsciously over
time, and these choices are made based on their
mental models or paradigms.
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18. Summary
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• Systems are made up of interrelated parts that
produce a set of behaviours (system’s function or
purpose)
• Unlike reductionism approach, Systems Thinking
looks at the system as a whole and aim at
understanding a system by looking at the linkages
and interactions between the components that
comprise the entirety of a system.
• System thinking help us:
• View the system as a whole, not as a series of parts
• Realize that most problems are not isolated. . . they
are interrelated >> think about unintended
consequence
• Do not look into events but the patterns and system
structures as well as mental models

19. References and reading materials
for system thinking
• Meadows, D. H. (2008). Thinking in systems: A
primer. chelsea green publishing.
• Senge, Peter M. (2006). The fifth discipline: The
art and practice of the learning organization.
Broadway Business.
• Jackson, M. C. (2003). Systems thinking: Creative
holism for managers (p. 378). Chichester: Wiley.
• Ackoff, R. L. (1973). Science in the systems age:
beyond IE, OR, and MS. Operations
research, 21(3), 661-671.
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20. “The significant
problems we face
today cannot be
solved at the same
level of thinking at
which they were
created.”
Albert Einstein
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21. Future is
coming, it
is
inevitable!