Understanding the systemic structure is powerfully generative
Systems thinking provides the framework for observing multiple levels of explanation in any complex situation. Senge describes three:[^1
Events (reactive)
↑
Patterns of Behavior (responsive)
↑
Systemic Structure (generative)
Event explanations are merely reactive to any event. Senge observes that this surface level of understanding “who did what to whom” dooms people “to a reactive stance. …event explanations are the most common in contemporary culture, and that is exactly why reactive management prevails.”[1]
“Pattern of behavior” explanations focus on “seeing longer-term trends and assessing their implications. … Pattern of behavior explanations begin to break the grip of short-term reactiveness. …they suggest how, over a longer term, we can respond to shifting trends.”[2]
Systemic Structure explanations are “the least common and most powerful. [They] focus on answering the question, “What causes the patterns of behavior?” … Though rare, structural explanations, when they are clear and widely understood, have considerable impact.”[3]
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See also:
- Systems mindset examines the quality of decisions, not just outcomes – Bahcall observes the same phenomena, though only uses two levels of thinking, presumably working from Kahneman’s System 1, System 2 cognitive dichotomy in Thinking, Fast and Slow – Kahneman (2013).
- Cynefin framework helps interpret systems
- Scouts frequently update their maps
- Systems Thinking perceives the relationships and structure of complex systems