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Systems thinking

‘Systems thinking’ is a term used to describe thinking which looks at the nature and consequences of relationships. It is sometimes called relational thinking, ecological thinking, holistic thinking and integrative thinking. WWF chooses to use the term linkingthinking. Many concepts and ideas have emerged within this field of study: some of the guiding principles of systems thinking include:

• the whole is greater than the sum of its parts
  Complex systems show additional, sometimes unexpected properties that emerge from the interaction of the different parts. Such emergent properties might be good thing or a bad thing.

• you often can't discover or predict emergent properties of the whole by looking at the properties of the parts (more complexity means less predictability, and more emergence)
  The more connections and interactions there are, the more impossible it becomes to predict behaviour and outcomes.

• you can never only do one thing
  The simplest action can have consequences far beyond the original intention. Consequences may be personal, social, economic, environmental, etc.

• everything is connected, but not equally strongly. (So while it is often safe to draw boundaries, we need to be aware of where and how we are drawing them)
  We don’t have to think about everything, all the time, and life would become impossible if we had to. It is often acceptable to concentrate on the ‘job in hand’, but sometimes we need to look beyond our boundaries to understand wider influences on our system of interest, and/or understand what wider effects we ourselves are having.

• the health of the bigger system and the health of its subsystems are intimately connected
  There is continuous feedback between the different parts and levels of any system or organism.

• stability and resistance to change are two sides of the same coin
  Systems that last are stable systems. This can be a good thing if you want continuity, or a bad thing if you want to introduce change.

• complex systems show delayed response
  IIf you try to change a person, an organisation, or an ecosystem, you are likely to get a range of unexpected responses and knock-on effects, taking place over an indefinite time scale. Or even, no response at all! (See the principle above.)

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