{"id":501,"date":"2009-03-13T13:15:31","date_gmt":"2009-03-13T21:15:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.spreadingscience.com\/2009\/03\/13\/systems-thinking\/"},"modified":"2009-03-13T13:15:31","modified_gmt":"2009-03-13T21:15:31","slug":"systems-thinking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spreadingscience.com\/2009\/03\/13\/systems-thinking\/","title":{"rendered":"Systems Thinking"},"content":{"rendered":"

Systems Thinking as taught by Ackoff<\/a>:
\n[Via CDOQ-Chander’s Diary of Observations and Questions<\/a>]<\/p>\n

One of my heroes is Dr. Russell Ackoff<\/a>. I have read a few books he has written and have learned Systems Thinking from him. I am surprised that the field of Systems Thinking is not well understood. Following is my attempt to share what I learned from one of Ackoff’s recent lectures.
\n<\/a>
\nAlbert Einstein once said, “You can’t solve a problem with the same mind that created it.” According to Dr. Russell Ackoff most managers agree with Einstein’s statement but not many know what it means. It is easy to agree with something whose meaning is vague.<\/p>\n

In the Renaissance era, when the science as we know it today was born, a scientific inquiry method called Analysis was developed. Analysis comes naturally to us. Just watch kids breaking new things and being curious about the parts. The understanding of something follows a three step process in analytical thinking:<\/p>\n

1. Take it apart
\n2. Understand (function, role, behavior) what the parts do
\n3. Assemble the understanding of the parts into understanding of the whole<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thus begins a very nice discussion of what systems thinking is and how it affects business. These approaches will have to be brought to bear on many of the complex problems we now face.<\/p>\n

This is because we have pretty much solved all the problems where analysis and reductionism can be used. We are now left with multifunctional, highly linked problems. <\/p>\n

For example, many of the drugs we have developed worked against relatively simple diseases. a single drug affects a single receptor that was the major cause for the defect is one example. But things like weight, heart disease, etc, will not have single points of fault and thus are unlikely to have a single cure. Multi-pronged cures may well be necessary and a complete (or nearly complete) understanding of the relevant biological systems will be necessary.<\/p>\n

If an organization can not bring synthetic, multidisciplinary approaches to bear, then it will most likely be ineffectual in finding a solution to these types of problems. That is why systems thinking will be important.<\/em><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Technorati Tags: Social media<\/a>, Web 2.0<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Systems Thinking as taught by Ackoff: [Via CDOQ-Chander’s Diary of Observations and Questions] One of my heroes is Dr. Russell Ackoff. I have read a few books he has written and have learned Systems Thinking from him. I am surprised that the field of Systems Thinking is not well understood. Following is my attempt to … Continue reading Systems Thinking<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pe2yp-85","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":581,"url":"https:\/\/www.spreadingscience.com\/2009\/08\/31\/systems-thinking-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":501,"position":0},"title":"Systems thinking","date":"August 31, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Systems Thinking: Ancient Maya's Evolution of Consciousness and Contemporary Thinking: [Via Ackoff Center Weblog] Posted by Assistant Professor Tadeja Jere Lazanski, University of Primorska, Portoroz, Slovenia on his blog: \"Systems thinking is a framework that is based on the belief that the component parts of a system can best be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Web 2.0"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":657,"url":"https:\/\/www.spreadingscience.com\/2010\/06\/14\/companies-as-complex-systems\/","url_meta":{"origin":501,"position":1},"title":"Companies as complex systems","date":"June 14, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by jurvetsonSeeing Your Company as a System [Via Ackoff Center Weblog] Much-needed guidance on making companies more employee-centered, adaptive, and capable This is an article from Strategy+Business by Andrea Gabor: \u2026 No matter how disparate the causes of failure, there is always a common thread: somewhere, somehow, management has let\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Knowledge Creation"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":557,"url":"https:\/\/www.spreadingscience.com\/2009\/06\/24\/the-failure-is-the-process\/","url_meta":{"origin":501,"position":2},"title":"The failure is the process","date":"June 24, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by seier+seier+seier Lessons Learned -- Why the Failure of Systems Thinking Should Inform the Future of Design Thinking: [Via Manage by Designing] \"You never learn by doing something right \u2018cause you already know how to do it. 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