A Complete Set of Systems: Thinking Skills

A Complete Set of Systems
Thinking Skills
Ross D. Arnold
Jon P. Wade
Stevens Institute of Technology
Dawit Tesfaye
Biniyam Haylay
Tsega Hawaz
Yacob Isaac
Yodit Aschenaki
Samuel tesfaye
Befkadu Takele
Abstract
This paper proposes a complete set of systems thinking skills for use
across many different disciplines.
The proposed skills were derived from a review of the literature
System thinking as a very useful skill set still lingers outside mainstream
education. To address this problem, a set of assessable, comprehensible
systems thinking skills is required. Such skills are defined, described, and
detailed in this paper.
Background
The skills proposed in this paper are an extension of a definition of
systems thinking proposed by Arnold and Wade (2015). Arnold and Wade
define systems thinking as a system of synergistic analytic skills used to
improve the capability of identifying and understanding systems,
predicting their behaviors, and devising modifications to them in order to
produce desired effects.
Introduction
System thinking may seem complex and far from reality. But it benefits
all kinds of systems.
Systems thinking provides skills such as the ability to view issues
holistically, and the insight to see non-obvious connections between
things while understanding why they behave a certain way.
A critical step in assessing systems thinking is to identify the metrics
and qualities that thinkers must master in order to improve their levels
of Systems Thinking Maturity.
The mental model for the identification of systems thinking skills
should be to identify skills that support systems thinking ability, rather
than the skills that systems thinking is “made up of.”
Problem
All systems are made up of “stuff”. To answer what a person to
demonstrate looking at both the whole and parts or the dynamic
behavior
The practical application of system thinking to the real world must be
determined and from there, the skills a person must perform in order to
be using systems thinking must be identified.
Then those abilities can then be mapped to the theoretical concepts
Some of these include wholes and parts, dynamic behavior, conceptual
modeling to simplify systems, feedback loops, delays, synergy, multiple
perspectives, and uncertainty, among others.
Continu..
There is a gray area in which the systems thinking skills match up with
the theoretical concepts and this limitation is inherent in many fields,
Especially when taking practical applications and try to map them to
educational constructs.
In order to evaluate quantitatively in an education system, the bottom-
up approach of defining and mapping the theory to a taxonomy is used.
But, in order to actually evaluate realistically relevant skills, we must
take the top-down approach of determining the real actions that people
take and then mapping those to some form of objectives.
Taking a systems approach to a problem reveals that there is no such
thing as a complete theory; the quest is to look at a problem more
comprehensively, and the resolutions come from rethinking how we
deal with complexity (P. Senge, 1990) and with it, systems thinking.
Two Facets of Systems Thinking
Gaining insight roughly equates to approaching systems from the
outside, such as examining a system from multiple perspectives. This
includes techniques for effectively understanding system behavior even
in the face of lacking specific understanding of all the details on how
the system works
Using insight roughly equates to approaching systems from the inside,
such as manipulating system structure. This encompasses the
understanding of systems, system structure, and dynamic behavior, all
widely considered highly relevant aspects of systems thinking.
These two sets of techniques are used both in parallel and in series,
constantly reinforcing each other while a thinker explores a system of
interest
Skills that Support Systems Thinking
This section proposes a set of skills that support systems thinking. These
skills support the four basic principles of systems thinking as per the
Arnold and Wade (2015) definition:
1. Identifying Systems
2. Understanding Systems
3. Predicting System Behavior
4. Devising Modifications to Systems to Produce Desired Effects
This paper proposes dividing the skills into four basic domains.
Mindset, Content, Structure, Behavior
Continu..
1. Mindset – How to approach systemic problems
1.1. Explore Multiple Perspectives
1.2. Consider the Wholes and Parts
1.3. Effectively Respond to Uncertainty and Ambiguity
1.4. Consider Issues Appropriately
1.5. Use Mental Modeling and Abstraction
2. Content – What’s in the system
2.1. Recognize Systems
2.2. Maintain Boundaries
2.3. Differentiate and Quantify Elements
Continu..
3. Structure – How’s it organized
3.1. Identify Relationships
3.2. Characterize Relationships
3.3. Identify Feedback Loops
3.4. Characterize Feedback Loops
4. Behavior – What happens when content and structure interact
4.1. Describe Past System Behavior
4.2. Predict Future System Behavior
4.3. Respond to Changes over Time
4.4. Use Leverage Points to Produce Effects
Skill Mapping
Why a New Skill Set?
Conclusion
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