SYSTEMS THINKING

“Systems Thinking is everything our current educational system is not.” This is a statement made by Senge on the System Thinking website: http://www.ed.psu.edu/insys/ESD/systems/thinking/systhink.htm. An interesting insight, to say the least. Senge goes on to describe the system as: “How a group of people collectively enhance their capacities to produce the outcome they really wanted to produce.”

Systems Thinking differs from traditional forms of analysis in that the former focuses on separating the whole into individual pieces to be studied, while the latter, has a (w)holistic focus that defines the organization as a web of interacting, interdependent parts that form one system. Systems thinking then, is conceived much like anthropologists explain culture. It is the interaction among parts that make up the culture which includes each living being and their interconnection to the world.

Those who are proponents of “Systems Thinking” as an educational strategy describe it as a way to allow educators and students, to “see the forest through the trees”; a highly prized point of view! This is in complete contrast to many current bureaucratic, hierarchical organizations that are effected by the views of a few, the CEO or president, and the Board of Directors. When Systems Thinking is introduced and supported by the entire organization, everyone plays a very important function in determining the organization’s present and future production and goals. The members of these forms of social systems, act as a team and with their team members visualize and follow through towards seeking and attaining the success of the organization.

One of the key applications to utilizing Systems Thinking is applying this method to organizations that have experienced a great deal of stress. There are a number of recommendations in Senge’s paper that can be utilized to develop this type of thinking in education. They are:

· Develop increased capacity for self-organization, and self-renewal.

· View system change as a process of problem solving.

· Put emphasis on participation of the organization as a whole.

· Develop an awareness of the whole and recognize the individual as a part.

· Focus on cooperation of the whole rather than on competition.

· See everyone as responsible for the system and a contributor.

· All time for individuals to make progress.

· Understand the system can change by working with the whole rather than against it.

· Focus on long-term consequences and root causes, avoid taking the easy way out.

· Incorporate many of the goals, including those that conflict into one clear goal.

· View the whole system as a resource-based, using advanced technological tools rather than teacher-based.

I will add one more to this:

· View human diversity as a positive addition to the whole that will help develop and move the organization to a higher level.

I would like to learn more about this system. I agree with Senge that many cultures throughout the world, including Native American cultures, rely on cooperation among their members for their societies to survive. It would be of great interest to me to apply such a system of thought and operation to the American corporate framework in order to investigate the effectiveness of the system.