The Importance of Systems Thinking

A system is a collection of interrelated or interdependent parts that interact with each other to form a unified whole. Companies are made up of different systems, with each requiring different methods to co-exist to ensure the company’s success.

Systems thinking is a unique way of formulating perspectives in certain situations. In an article published on Toggl Plan and written by Logan Derrick, systems thinking is said to allow the creation of different tools for problem-solving. To take control of systems and to have desired outcomes, you must be able to foresee and anticipate; they are key to systems thinking.

Systems thinking is crucial for people in charge of projects and convoluted organizational processes; this includes leaders, decision-makers, and managers. If this does not convince you, systems thinking is also gaining popularity in biology and cybernetics and is being increasingly used by business managers and entrepreneurs. This should give you an idea of how systematic perspectives make you proactive in figuring out how techniques work and leverage them. The goal of this is to understand the behavior of a key process, allowing you to properly manage them.

The pitfall in systems thinking is when you are unaware that you are applying systems thinking, overlooking other viable and good perspectives. Training and practice are necessary so that you consciously undertake systems thinking and actively apply it. This is also so that you can also identify new paradigms that are highly useful to solve problems using the systems thinking rules. The components of the four simple rules of systems thinking are represented by the abbreviation DSRP, which stands for distinctions, systems, relationships, and perspectives.

In the future, systems thinking will inevitably gain more ground and primacy. Businesses will need to internalize the principles that drive systems thinking to have impacts on product marketing, merchandise purchase, customer management, inter alia. When these procedures are managed properly, a company can effectively operate.

eCornell offers Systems Thinking program which allows you to employ the techniques and tools to implicitly identify, gauge, and apply perspectives to solve organizational problems and unwanted issues.

eCornell courses are approved by SkillsFuture Singapore for SkillsFuture Credit as well as by HRDF Malaysia under its SBL Scheme.