Systems thinking I see operating in two ways, generally speaking. The first is the concept of thinking of the whole as made up of parts rather than the parts constituting a whole. Synthesis over analysis, holism over reductionism; the combination and connection of things as a concept, above the definition of things as a collection of isolated parts. The next is an attempt to derive knowledge about systems themselves, and the approaches we can use to do so. How to deal with medium number systems in a pragmatic way. For me, that’s general systems thinking. Metalaws. Being wrong in order to find that out. I also think of it in terms of irritating complexity. A dynamic web of interconnections of parts that can affect many others simultaneously. Adjustments to a system based on linear functional thinking can have all sorts of consequences elsewhere. Systems thinking is also about consideration of all the relationships between modelled elements in a system, and therefore all the ones excluded from that model. As we try to supress the complexity of systems so that we can map them and apply sensible calculations we exclude factors, and as those factors become detrimental to the accuracy of our results we accept the error bars as they come. It’s also about having the perspective to understand what system could be. To have a broad enough scope to see competing systems or human-made paradigm categorisations and treat them with neutrality. Or at least not be so invested in one system as to blind ourselves to the realities of another. It’s removal of the self in service of the possibility of things that are not connected to us. It’s removing faith from our thinking.

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