Systems are integrative, cohesive, and indivisible

Attempting to break up a system into smaller pieces is not a trivial undertaking (and may well be impossible). This is because systems are cohesive (integrative) wholes that are not cleanly divisible into subordinate systems.

Living systems have integrity. Their character depends on the whole. The same is true for organizations; to understand the most challenging managerial issues requires seeing the whole system that generates the issues. … What makes this principle difficult to practice is the way organizations are designed to keep people from seeing important interactions. One obvious way is by enforcing rigid internal divisions that inhibit inquiry across divisional boundaries, such as those that grow up between marketing, manufacturing, and research.^[1]

#systems

See also:

• Emergence is non-linear behavior of a system
• Low-leverage interventions are alluring because they work in the short term
• Compensating feedback offsets interventions