Systems thinking accounts for events, structure, and behavior (over time)
Systems thinking goes beyond merely observing (and reacting to) events and seeks to understand the underlying system structure that produced the events.
Systems thinking goes back and forth constantly between structure (diagrams of stocks, flows, and feedback) and behavior (time graphs). Systems thinkers strive to understand the connections between the hand releasing the Slinky (event) and the resulting oscillations (behavior) and the mechanical characteristics of the Slinky’s helical coil (structure).[1]
See also:
- Structure influences behavior
- Complex situations have multiple levels of explanation
- Structural explanations address underlying causes
Thinking in Systems – Meadows (2008), ch. 4, § “Beguiling Events.” ↩︎