SYSTEMS THINKING COURSES (ENVM7523/3526) Module 1: Systems Thinking Introduction

INTRODUCTION TO SYSTEMS THINKING

Professor Ockie BoschDr Nam Nguyen1

Introduction to the systems conceptThe six blind men and an elephantA partial truthThe moral of the story: having a holistic viewThe behaviour of a system cannot be known just by knowing the elements of the system (Meadows 2008, p.7)

Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen

2The story of the six blind men and an elephant: This story has slightly different versions in different eastern cultures. The story goes like this: Once upon a time, there lived six blind men in a village. One day the villagers told them, "Hey, there is an elephant in the village today." They had no idea what an elephant is. They decided, "Even though we would not be able to see it, let us go and feel it anyway." All of them went where the elephant was. Everyone of them touched the elephant."Hey, the elephant is a pillar," said the first man who touched his leg."Oh, no! it is like a rope," said the second man who touched the tail."Oh, no! it is like a huge snake," said the third man who touched the trunk of the elephant."It is like a big hand fan" said the fourth man who touched the ear of the elephant."It is like a huge wall," said the fifth man who touched the belly of the elephant."It is like a solid pipe," said the sixth man who touched the tusk of the elephant.I have deliberately chosen a photo of the six men wearing suites and carrying suitcases. This is to emphasise that this story is still very true in the modern world today!A partial truth: "All of them are right and all of them are wrong. The reason each of them is telling it differently is because each one of them touched a different part of the elephant. In other words, each of them has a partial truth. The elephant has all the features that each of them described, but isnt fully what they described unless we combine all of their answers. Only when each individual learns that they are part of a system, touching upon truth at some point, but probably not touching upon the total systemic truth, will each teammate seek out alternative perspectives. Many times, disagreements are not really disagreements at all, but just individuals seeing or feeling a different aspect of the system, revealing a portion of the truth, that only when combined yields the whole truth. System thinking is essential for leaders to help everyone work as a team, gathering all of the facts to accurately model the system they are working on to improve. The moral of the story: Regardless of its various versions, the key moral of the story is the importance of having a holistic view or seeing things as a whole or a system; and this is the essence of systems thinking. In other words, the behaviour of a system cannot be known just by knowing the elements of which the system is made (Meadows 2008, p.7). However, this is still a prevailing philosophy, or ways of doing things, in our society/education systems i.e. when you want to understand a system, you break it into parts and study each part separately.So, what is a system? (move to the next slide)

Reference:Meadows, D. (2008). Thinking in Systems: A Primer (Edited by Diana Wright, Sustainability Institute). USA: Chelsea Green Publishing Company.

A system is a set of elements or parts that is coherently organised and interconnected in a pattern or structure that produces a characteristic set of a behaviours, often classified as its function or purpose (Meadows 2008, p.188)Simply defined, a system is a complex whole the functioning of which depends on its parts and the interactions between those parts (Jackson 2003, p.3) A system is more than the sum of its parts it is the product of their interactions (Ackoff 1999) Definitions of Systems Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen

3There are several definitions of a system; for example:A system is a way of looking at the world (Weinberg 2001, p.52)A system is a collection of parts that interact with one another to function as a whole (Maani and Cavana 2007, p.7)A system is more than the sum of its parts it is the product of their interactions (Ackoff 1999)

References:Weinberg, G. M. (2001). An introduction to general systems thinking (Silver anniversary ed. ed.). New York, USA: Dorset House Publishing. Maani, K. E. and Cavana, R. Y. (2007). Systems thinking, system dynamics: Managing change and complexity. Prentice Hall, Auckland, NZ.Ackoff, R. L. (1999). Ackoff's best: His classic writings on management. Wiley, New York, USA.

A collection is also composed of a number of parts but they are just dumped together and are not interconnected (Sherwood 2002)A marriage: a collection or a system?A Degree program?

Source: http://www.yaseenkhan.org Honey, are we a collection or a system?I hope we area system!

Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen

A System versus a Collection4A collection or a heap is also composed of a number of parts but they are just dumped together and are not interconnected (Sherwood 2002)For example, do you think that a marriage is a collection or a system? For anyone who saw a marriage as a collection, please seek marriage counselling immediately! Other examples: 4 strangers waiting for a bus versus a family of 4 people waiting for a bus; a kitchen; database of customer names; tools in a toolbox, etc.

Reference:Sherwood, D. (2002). Seeing the Forest for the Trees: A Manager's Guide to applying Systems Thinking. London, UK: Nicholas Brealey Publishing.

A system must consist of :Elements or partsInterconnectedness & InteractionsFunction or purposeExamples: a business, football team; digestive system; school; faculty, city; corporation; animal; tree; etc.

Basic Properties of a System Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen

5A system must consist of three kinds of things:Elements or partsThe Interconnectedness or Interactions between these parts; andFunction or purpose of the systemExamples of systems: a football team; the digestive system; a school; a city; a corporation; an animal; a tree; a forest; etcA football team is a system: with elements such as players, coach, field, and ball. Its interconnections are the rules of the game, the coachs strategy, the players communications, and the laws of physics that govern the motions of ball and players. The purpose of the team is to win games, or have fun, or get exercise, or make millions of dollars, or all of the above (Meadows 2008). NOTE: ASK STUDENTS FIRST WHAT ARE THE ELEMENTS, INTERACTIONS, PURPOSE OF THIS SYSTEM?The digestive system: The elements your digestive system include teeth, enzymes, stomach, and intestines. They are interrelated through the physical flow of food, and through an elegant set of regulating chemical signals. The function of this system is to break down food into its basic nutrients and to transfer those nutrients into the bloodstream (another system) while discarding unusable wastes (Meadows 2008). A forest is a larger system that encompasses subsystems of trees and animals. Similarly, your body is a large system that consists of various subsystems NOTE: ASK STUDENTS TO NAME SOME OF THESE SUBSYSTEMS (WHAT ARE THESE SUBSYSTEMS?).

Reference:Meadows, D. (2008). Thinking in Systems: A Primer (Edited by Diana Wright, Sustainability Institute). USA: Chelsea Green Publishing Company.

Systems thinking is a way of looking at, learning about, and understanding complex situations (Wilson 2004, p.7)Systems thinking is a way of seeing and talking about reality that helps us better understand and work with systems to influence the quality of our lives (Kim 1999, p.2) Systems thinking is a new way of thinking to understand and manage complex problems (Bosch et al. 2007; Cabrera et al. 2008)

Definitions of Systems Thinking Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen

6Different scholars define ST slightly differently, for example:Systems thinking is a way of looking at, learning about, and understanding complex situations (Wilson 2004, p.7) Systems thinking is a way of seeing and talking about reality that helps us better understand and work with systems to influence the quality of our lives (Kim 1999, p.2)Systems thinking is a big idea the idea that you really can understand and tame the complexity of the real world by seeing things in the round, as a whole (Sherwood 2002, p.1)We can see that these 3 definitions are slightly different; but they have many underlying key words that are in common.

References:Wilson, J. (2004). Changing agriculture: An introduction to Systems thinking (2nd ed.). QLD, Australia: Print on Demand Centre, University of Queensland Bookshop.Kim, D. H. (1999). Introduction to Systems Thinking. MA, USA: Pegasus Communications, Inc.Sherwood, D. (2002). Seeing the Forest for the Trees: A Manager's Guide to applying Systems Thinking. London, UK: Nicholas Brealey Publishing.

Climate and Environmental changesTechnologicaldevelopmentsGlobal Information ExchangeIncreasing ConflictsDisruptionof the Value ChainSocial & Political DevelopmentsDifferentiation of Customer NeedsSocial ResponsibilityDealing with complexity and coping with increasing dynamics has become the main challenge in project and program managementComplexity and Dynamics Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen

Why Systems Thinking?

Politicians, business managers and all members of society have to make important decisions on a daily basis in the complex web in which business, social issues, finance and economics, environment, politics and culture are all highly interconnected

Do we get it right? Do we make good policy and investment decisions? Are we aware of the unintended consequences of our decisions? Are we effective in our cross-sectoral communication and collaboration to deal with the multi-dimensional nature of complex problems? Do we go for quick fixes because it is easier to treat the symptoms?ORDo we urgently need new and innovative ways of thinking and a fresh approach and tools to deal with the problems facing our society?

Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen

Making Decisions in such a Complex Web of InteractionsFood Safety & Security The Energy CrisisEnvironmental Disasters Climate ChangeCarbon TradeLand UseBiodiversityWater Shortage

Business ProfitabilityPovertyHuman HealthAnimal HealthGlobalisationSustainabilityJob LossesResource Management

CURRENT ISSUES IN THE MEDIA Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen

9These are the current headline issues: .The issues on the left column are mostly to do with ecological systems (environment) while the issues on the right column are to do with social-economic systems (people).

Modified from Maani and Nguyen (2009)

Interconnectedness Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen

10Globalisation is added to complete a high-level Systems Model of the World Issues (Dynamics of Sustainability).We can see that how the factors/issues are interrelated; and on action/decision on an issue could have an impact on the whole system.

The Torn Net Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen

Agric. & RuralDevelopmentNatural Res & EnvironmentCulture, Sport & TourismPlanning & InvestmentTraining & EducationDepartments of Hai Phong CityPlansCollaborationSharingOperating in SilosIntegrated Systemic Master Plan for Governance Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen

Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen

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Taking stock of a failed projectAndrew Stellman on July 24, 2009 OOPS?

Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen

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SanitationClean waterLiving conditions Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen

Family PlanningNeed for EducationHealth issues Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen

By concentrating on the particular Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen

Illustrating looking at issues in isolation in another way.17

.bourgeois thought fails to see the totality Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen

Unintended Consequences Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen

19Relate this cartoon to several important concepts in ST such as: quick-fix solution, unintended consequence, delay, etc.Where the world is dynamic, evolving and interconnected, we tend to make decisions using mental models that are static, narrow, and reductionist. (Sterman 2000) Narrow focused and isolated solutions often lead to policy resistance and unintended consequences.To balance and integrate short term and urgent solutions with long term systemic interventions.To create resilience collaborative, integrated and systemic approaches.To enhance cross-sectoral engagement, communication and collaboration in dealing with complexityBut, fundamentally and foremost, we need a new way of thinking that allows us to test and challenge age-old assumptions.

A New Way of ThinkingSystems Thinking Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen

20Where the world is dynamic, evolving and interconnected, we tend to make decisions using mental models that are static, narrow, and reductionist. (Sterman 2000) Narrow focused and isolated solutions often lead to policy resistance and unintended consequences.We need approaches that balance and integrate short term and urgent solutions with long term systemic interventions.To create resilience collaborative, integrated and systemic approaches are required.But, fundamentally and foremost, we need a new way of thinking that allow us to test and challenge age-old assumptions. This is the key challenge!

Reference:Sterman, J. D. (2000). Business Dynamics: Systems Thinking and Modeling for a Complex World. Boston, USA: Irwin McGraw-Hill.Business (Sterman 2000; Walker et al. 2009)Health (Cavana et al. 1999; Lee 2009)Commodity systems (Sawin et al. 2003)Agricultural production systems (Wilson 2004)Natural resource management (Allison and Hobbs 2006)Education (Galbraith 1999; Hung 2008)Decision making (Maani 2002)Human resource management (Quatro et al. 2007)Organisational learning and change (Galanakis 2006)Philosophy, biology, social theory and management (Mingers 2006)Sustainability and evolutionary learning laboratories for addressing complex issues (Nguyen, Bosch et al. 2011; Nguyen, Bosch et al. 2013a; Bosch, Nguyen et al.2013b) Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen

Application of Systems Thinking21The application of systems thinking has grown extensively and encompassed work in many diverse fields and disciplines such as:Business (Sterman 2000; Walker et al. 2009)Health (Cavana et al. 1999; Lee 2009)Commodity systems (Sawin et al. 2003)Agricultural production systems (Wilson 2004)Natural resource management (Allison and Hobbs 2006)Education (Galbraith 1999; Hung 2008)Decision making and consensus building (Maani 2002)Human resource management (Quatro et al. 2007)Organisational learning and change (Galanakis 2006)Philosophy, biology, and social theory and management (Mingers 2006)Sustainability and living laboratories for addressing complex issues (Bosch and Nguyen 2011; Nguyen et al. 2011a; Nguyen et al. 2011b)

References:Sterman, J. D. (2000). Business Dynamics: Systems Thinking and Modeling for a Complex World. Boston, USA: Irwin McGraw-Hill.Walker, G. H., Stanton, N. A., Jenkins, D. P., & Salmon, P. M. (2009). From telephones to iPhones: Applying systems thinking to networked, interoperable products. Applied Ergonomics, 40(2), 206-215.Cavana, R. Y., Davies, P. K., Robson, R. M., & Wilson, K. J. (1999). Drivers of quality in health services: different worldviews of clinicians and policy managers revealed. System Dynamics Review, 15(3), 331-340.Lee, A. (2009). Health-promoting schools: evidence for a holistic approach to promoting health and improving health literacy. Appl Health Econ Health Policy, 7(1), 11-17.Wilson, J. (2004). Changing agriculture: An introduction to Systems thinking (2nd ed.). QLD, Australia: Print on Demand Centre, University of Queensland Bookshop.Allison, H. E., & Hobbs, R. J. (2006). Science and policy in natural resource management: Understanding system complexity. UK: Cambridge University Press.Galbraith, P. L. (1999). Systems thinking: a missing component in higher educational planning. Higher Education Policy, 2(2), 141-157.Hung, W. (2008). Enhancing systems-thinking skills with modelling. British Journal of Educational Technology, 39(6), 1099-1120.Maani, K. (2002). Consensus Building through Systems Thinking - The Case of Policy and Planning in Healthcare. Australian Journal of Information Systems, 9(2), 84-93.Quatro, S. A., Waldman, D. A., & Galvin, B. M. (2007). Developing holistic leaders: Four domains for leadership development and practice. Human Resource Management Review, 17(4), 427-441.Galanakis, K. (2006). Innovation process. Make sense using systems thinking. Technovation, 26(11), 1222-1232.Mingers, J. C. (2006). Realising Systems Thinking: Knowledge and Action in Management Science. New York, USA: Springer.Bosch, O. J. H., & Nguyen, N. C. (2011). A new approach for cross sectoral and organizational collaboration and communication to deal with increasing complexity and promote effective change. IUAES/AAS/ASAANZ Conference 2011 Knowledge and Value in a Globalising World: Disentangling Dichotomies, Querying Unities, Perth, WA, Australia, 5-8 July 2011Nguyen, N. C., Bosch, O. J., & Maani, K. E. (2011a). Creating 'learning laboratories' for sustainable development in biospheres: A systems thinking approach. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 28(1), 51-62.Nguyen, N. C., Graham, D., Ross, H., Maani, K., & Bosch, O. (2011b). Educating Systems Thinking for Sustainability: Experience with a Developing Country. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Accepted: 5 May (Early View: 5 July), doi:10.1002/sres.1097.The capacity to redesign in systems and sustainability terms, will increasingly be what society and employers will require from new people entering the workforceA requirement that has become one of the biggest challenges for education in this centuryOnly a deep understanding of the disciplines insufficient - need to fully understand how disciplines fit into societal and global systemsLiving in a Century when humanity will meet ever more limitsDidactic autonomous discipline based courses fail to foster a social networking culture (interactions between students in different disciplines)Need innovative curriculum designs and learning environments that address academic paradigms as well as industry requirements

Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen

OUR BASIC PHILOSOPHY Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen

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$$$ for mitigating unintended consequencesSymptomsEventsPATTERNS interactions between components $$$ for root causes of povertyMENTAL MODELS/MIND MAPS Peoples understandingSYSTEMIC STRUCTURES What does system look likeThe Iceberg ApproachSystems Approach$$$ for alleviating povertyAddressing fundamental problems to achieve sustainable systems

Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen

Adapted from Maani and Cavana, 2007LINEAR THINKING

Improved Quality of Life Enhance TourismMore TouristsMore JobsMore $$$ Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen

Wealth of Local PeopleNumber of TouristsIncreasing n JobsSYSTEMS THINKING Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen

Explaining that one cannot think linearly anymore when you deal with a complex system (Linear is: More tourists, more money, people have better quality of life. Systems: More tourists, more waste more demand on fresh water, feedback loops, etc, etc. a much more complex situation. No wander Governments are struggling to cope with complex problems. Solving them cannot be done through traditional linear thinking. That is when they start to use quick fixes (addressing the symptoms).26