{"id":16876,"date":"2020-10-26T22:32:56","date_gmt":"2020-10-27T02:32:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=16876"},"modified":"2020-10-31T23:46:29","modified_gmt":"2020-11-01T03:46:29","slug":"strategic-systems-thinking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/strategic-systems-thinking\/","title":{"rendered":"Improve Your Strategic Systems Thinking Now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How can you improve your strategic systems thinking? Can you become a better systems thinker?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strategic systems thinking can help you reframe your perspective on how things work. You can work on becoming a strategic systems thinker in order to better manage companies and all other kinds of structures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about strategic systems thinking and how to include your skills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Improving at Strategic Systems Thinking<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Learning to think in systems is a lifelong process. The world is so endlessly complex that there is always something new to learn. Once you think you have a good handle on a system, it behaves in ways that surprise you and require you to revise your model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And even if you understand a system well and believe you know what should be changed, actually implementing<\/em> the change is a whole other challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The author ends with advice that she and other systems thinkers have learned over their lifetimes. (Shortform note: We\u2019ve organized her points into three sections:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Understanding systems<\/a><\/li>
  2. Intervening in systems<\/li>
  3. Systems in society<\/a>)<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Intervening in Systems<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    For many systems thinkers, the goal of understanding a system is to fix a problem or make it work better. But even if you understand a system and believe you know the best intervention for it, actually implementing that change is another, possibly greater, challenge. Here’s how you can work on your strategic systems thinking skills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Question the Intervention to the Deepest Layers<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    When probing a system and investigating why interventions don\u2019t work, you may bring up deep questions of human existence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    For example, you might think, \u201cIf these boneheads were only to open their eyes and accept this data, then they\u2019d see the value of the solution, and we could fix the system.\u201d But this raises deeper questions: How does anyone<\/em> process the data they receive? How do people view the same information through different cognitive filters? Why can the same data lead to two completely different conclusions from two different people?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Likewise, you may think a system needs to reorient its values. But where do values come from? Why does someone arrive at the values they have? Why does it seem easier to orient around quantitative values than qualitative ones?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Social systems are driven by deep human needs and emotions, and that\u2019s why they can be so resistant to change. This complexity can be maddening, but understanding it is necessary to appreciating why systems fail<\/a> and how to improve them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Empower the System to Do More Internally<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    As an intervenor, resist the tendency to bring in outside solutions that cripple the system\u2019s ability to take care of itself (this is the system trap of addiction). Instead, try to empower the system to do more internally, to solve its own problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    For instance, to nurture a developing economy, don\u2019t bring in foreign corporations to build factories to \u201ccreate jobs.\u201d A more internally-empowering solution would be to issue small loans to local entrepreneurs and teach business skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Tighten Feedback Loops on Responsibility<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    Actors in a system can behave poorly when they evade accountability for their actions. Tighten the feedback loop between the actor and the consequences of its behavior. Examples include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n