introduction to systems thinking

anupam saraphhttp://anupam.saraph.in

Dedicated to my teacher and mentor late Donella Meadows and all those systems practitioners striving to leave their systems better than they found them

1. partner2. thumb wrestle

3. keep score

how many survived?how many cycles?

strategies for success

when the health of the system is less than desired, you have a problem

when there is a problem, you make decisions to reduce

the gap

perspectivessystems

change research

perspectives

half of all start-ups disappear in 5 years

less than a third of all start-ups survive

their 15th year

there are insufficient orders

ceo

there is a recessioneconomic advisor

the problem is due to lack of advertising

marketing

it’s due to lack of promotion and dealer support

sales

due to inaccurate forecasting by the

marketing and salesmanufacturing

budget overruns due to high inventories

finance

shortages due to supplier delays

materials

we lack the production capacity

projects

do we look at the complete picture?

sensex, plr, sales, profits, patents

indicators

19K, N-deal, tendersevents

auto, it, bt, classessectors

sales, production, customer support,

financedepartments

ceo, vp, gm, mgr, staff

actors

why do the same problems recur

over time?

systems

system

environment

defines: what is within, what is outside

system

environment

determines the scope you have to change the outcome

system

environment

determines the constraints you have to live by

system

environment

creates a shared understanding of the impact machine

system

environment

creates an alignment of team members

a language of relationships

glue for parts

structures sustaining parts

recognizing the whole

outcomes result from the whole

outcomes show resistance

show emergence

are counterintuitive

the whole is a set of related variables

or a collection of feedbacks

or actors engaged in a relationship

actions that result in significant, enduring

improvements

buyer+seller

lender+borrower

partners in thumb-wrestling

change research

seeking enduring solutions

redesigning the whole

how much impact

how long an impact

how long to impact

Impa

ct S

pace

Impact SpeedFast SlowPersons

SystemEnduring Leverage

Make Fishing Viable

Teach Fishing

Give Fish

Enduring Impact

insights of change research

systems draw attention to the very points at which an

attempt to intervene will fail

the harder you push, the harder the

system pushes back

behavior grows better before it

grows worse

the easy way out usually leads back in

the cure can be worse than the

disease

today's problems come from yesterday's “solutions”

faster is many times slower

cause and effect are not closely related in

time and space

many obvious solutions fail or

actually worsen the situation

long term behavior is often different from short term

behavior

small changes can produce big results

but the areas of highest leverage are

often the least obvious

dividing the elephant in half does

not produce two small elephants

there is no blame

perspectivessystems

change research

god, grant me the serenity to accept the

things I cannot change,courage to change the

things I can,and wisdom to know the

difference