A system is composed of several elements (entities), which may be individual things. It may also be a subsystem composed of a group of things.

There are interactive feedbacks or connections between these elements (entities), which is an important distinction between a system and a collection ("heap") of things that have nothing to do with each other.

Feedback and interaction between elements (entities) make the system as a whole have specific functions. These functions are determined by the structure of the system and are often different from the characteristics and functions of its constituent elements.

One of the elements that constitute the system is entity - this is a general term or general concept, which can refer to tangible and active subjects, some intangible things, or the key features, elements and some parts of these things. .

Although the entity is the part that people tend to notice most when analyzing a system, and it is indeed an indispensable part of the system, it is usually the least important in defining the characteristics of the system.

Relatively speaking, changing entities has minimal impact on the system. As long as the internal connections and overall goals of the system are not touched, even if all entities are replaced, the system will sometimes remain the same, or only change slightly or slowly.

For several entities to form a system, there must be internal connections between them, that is to say, there must be a relationship between one part of the system and another part.

According to Meadows, many connections in a system operate through the flow of information, which brings the system together and has an important impact on its operation.

Cutting off the connection will destroy the system. Therefore, if you want to understand a system and try to further influence its behavior or even control it, you must shift from studying the constituent entities to exploring the internal connections of the system, that is, studying the connections between the various components. elements that integrate together.

For a system, which entities are composed of and how they are connected are not accidental or random, but depend on its inherent function or goal, whether this function or goal is explicitly written out or not.

Only by analyzing the behavior of the system can we infer the goals of the system, which are often the most critical determinant of system behavior.

(1) Entity: The socio-technical system includes multiple active subjects. (2) Input: Most systems are not isolated and self-sufficient. They all exist or require various inputs from the outside (including energy, information, matter, etc.) to maintain the operation of the system. This is especially true for open systems. There are probably very few closed systems that have no or no input. (3) Processing process: If the system requires input, it means that the input is valuable to the system and the system needs to process it (such as decomposition, combination, processing, etc.). Therefore, there are usually processes in the system that process inputs and internal elements and convert them into outputs. These processes are often performed by the active subjects or components that make up the system, forming some connections between entities. (4) Output: Just like input, most systems have output (including energy, information, matter, etc.) to maintain the operation and balance of the system. (5) Feedback: Most systems have one or more feedback mechanisms that regulate the conversion process, which not only helps maintain the dynamic and stable operation of the system, but is also an important mechanism for interacting with the environment to achieve system functions or goals. From a structural point of view, input, processing, output and feedback are all connections between the system and its internal and external aspects, and its functions or goals are reflected in the output and processing on the one hand, and on the other hand, they must also jump out of these elements, viewed as a whole. (6) Boundary: Although things are universally connected, a system always has a boundary (tangible or invisible) to define "inside" and "outside". Sometimes, people often use the word "system" to mean "inside" and "environment" to mean "outside". A system can be open or relatively closed, but each has its boundaries. There are many interactions between an open system and its external environment.

multiple complex, dynamic subjects

The connections are numerous and extremely subtle and complex.

Function or goal ambiguity

Although a system is a whole composed of several interconnected entities, the characteristics displayed by the system as a whole are often not the accumulation or average of the characteristics of its component parts, nor can they be obtained by studying any component in the system. They must be studied as a whole. and looking at the system. Segmenting things, no matter how finely you segment them and how deeply you study them, you may not be able to identify system-level characteristics.

The so-called "self-organization" refers to their ability to learn by themselves, make their own structures increasingly complex, or evolve by themselves.

Because self-organization can cause a system to evolve into a completely new outcome and develop completely different behavior patterns that cannot be inferred from the behavior or characteristics of its component parts, this phenomenon is often called "emergence" , which is nonlinear and unpredictable.

For dynamic complex systems, the system consists of multiple entities that continuously and dynamically influence and interact with each other, with hundreds or thousands of variables, and they are all functions of time and change anytime and anywhere, thus making the system behavior diverse. Possibility, uncertainty, and to some extent even unpredictability.

Especially for dynamic complex systems, a set of variables are interconnected and produce multiple feedbacks, which will spontaneously create a new order that is difficult to control.

In fact, trying to find the "right answer", especially the idea of ​​​​the only "right answer", is not in line with the characteristics of the system, but the linear thinking mode is at work.

Every system has a specific purpose.

The presence of negative feedback in a system causes the system to produce purposeful behavior that can achieve self-regulation to achieve specific goals.

The so-called "adaptability" refers to the ability of a system to offset external impacts in certain ways or mechanisms when it suffers external shocks or influences. To maintain the integrity of the system and restore it to its original or relatively stable state and operating mode

The main reason why the system is adaptable is that there are a large number of feedback loops that interact with each other within the system. These feedback loops support and interact with each other, and the one ebbs and flowses, making the system like a huge network. When faced with When impacted or disturbed, it can use different methods to remain relatively stable and return to its original state.

Adaptability does not mean standing still. In fact, an adaptable system may be constantly changing dynamically; on the contrary, a system that remains constant is not adaptive.

In principle, any change that cannot change the important feedback loop of the system, no matter how large it is, will only be temporary; on the contrary, any change that can affect the relationship between the key loops of the system, no matter how small it is, will change the long-term behavior of the system.

In the process of self-organization in which the organization itself continues to evolve and increase in complexity, dynamic systems often generate certain levels or hierarchies.

In a hierarchical system, the interconnections within each subsystem are greater or stronger than the interconnections between subsystems. If the information connections within the subsystems are designed properly, the feedback delays between them will be smaller, making the system more efficient.

Even very different people tend to produce similar behaviors and outcomes when they are exposed to the same system. One of the basic principles of systems thinking is that the behavior of a system is determined by its structure. Structure is the pattern of interconnections between key elements in a system, including the system's physical and mechanical structures (e.g., hidden rules, values, etc.) and their complex, dynamic interactions with the decision-making processes of the system's agents.

"Structure affects behavior" is one of the most important characteristics of a system. Its extended meaning is: if you want to change or influence the behavior of the system, you should transform or adapt to its structure.

You first have to figure out how to understand the structure of the system. According to the system thinking method, you need to get out of your inherent position in the system and obtain more and more complete information from different angles and in different ways. Only in this way can we defeat "bounded rationality" to a certain extent, see the overall structure of the system, and find the "leverage point" to effectively regulate system behavior.

In some sense, everything is related to other things, more or less, deeply or shallowly.

We also need to realize that any boundary is artificially set, and no system can exist independently of other things.

From an early age we are taught to break down problems and understand the world into pieces. This can obviously make complex problems easier to deal with, but invisibly, we pay a huge price - we completely lose the 'sense of whole' and do not understand the series of consequences of our actions.

For example, in the face of the economic crisis, some entrepreneurs tried to cut costs through layoffs, only to find that this led to low morale and made the difficult situation "even worse"

The mental models that people use to guide their decisions are flawed in dealing with the dynamics of the system.

People tend to adopt an event-based view of causation rather than loops, ignore the feedback process, fail to appreciate the time lag between action and reaction, fail to understand stocks and flows when reporting information, and have a poor understanding of what is happening in the system. Insensitivity to nonlinear features that may change the strength of different feedback loops during evolution.

My understanding is that the root cause of these problems is people's existing thinking patterns. Therefore, to solve these problems, you must change to a new way of thinking. If the thinking model remains unchanged, these problems will not be effectively solved.

Systems thinking is to look at the various systems around us as a whole, analyze and interpret the various forces that affect system behavior and their interrelationships, so as to cultivate people's understanding of dynamic changes, complexity, interdependence and influence, Decision-making and response capabilities, so as to better live in harmony with the system and develop together.

The essence of scientific revolution, to sum up in one sentence, is the transformation of paradigm. The so-called "paradigm" refers to some concepts, basic rules and general views on the nature of social reality that are recognized by members of a community. You can think of it colloquially as a set of values, beliefs or worldview.

The essence of systems thinking is holistic thinking, which means understanding problems from a holistic perspective.

Not only analyze each component, but also explore the interconnections and dynamic feedback between them to find the internal structure that drives system behavior changes, and design appropriate intervention or intervention strategies to restore the system's own adaptability.

The essence of systems thinking lies in "the change of thinking paradigm"

Let’s use a “Rubik’s cube” as a metaphor: everyone’s thinking has “angle” (whether it is dynamic or static), “depth” (whether it is superficial or insight into the inner structure) and “breadth” (whether it is limited to the basic level). , or see the big picture).

If a person's thinking has not been effectively trained and only relies on self-exploration, it is easy to fall into "system thinking deficiency syndrome". In the "Thinking Cube®", they are often in the upper left corner state, that is, "just look at the front, "Only look at the appearance (event), only the part"; a person with the wisdom of systematic thinking should be in the lower right corner of the "Thinking Cube®", that is, they can see the ins and outs (causes and trends) of things and see the development of things Trends or patterns of change and the drivers behind them (system structure), seeing the big picture (whole picture). In other words, you need to achieve a change in thinking in the above three dimensions and integrate them to achieve a "paradigm shift" from "reductionism" to "holism", thereby achieving systemic thinking.

Dynamic thinking: from linear thinking to circular thinking

Thinking deeply: from focusing on individual events to gaining insight into the underlying structure of the system

Thinking comprehensively: from being limited to the local area to caring about the overall situation

Many people are very busy and are "led by the nose" by one problem after another. One of the reasons why this happens is that you haven't found and solved the root cause. Beneath the apparent cause of the problem, there may be some feedback loop that allows similar problems to keep happening.

The way to break this "curse" is to think deeply, that is, to identify the "system structure" that drives similar problems through superficial phenomena, and to take effective intervention measures to change the structure of the system so that the problem will no longer occur.

In fact, systems thinkers will not focus on individual events, but can see a "line" - the trend or pattern of system behavior change from each "point" - surface phenomenon or event, and then through the analysis of causal interaction, Recognize the underlying structure that drives changes in system behavior—the key elements within the system and their interrelationships.

Iceberg model: an in-depth thinking framework that looks at the essence through phenomena

Understand the dynamics of changes in system behavior

See the essence through dynamics

When we think about problems, we must have a dynamic perspective, conduct comprehensive analysis, see the "in and out" of things, and sort out the interaction between various key elements, the ebb and flow of one and the other, as well as various possible changes.

The problems encountered by managers are usually not isolated from each other, but affect each other and change dynamically, especially in dynamic situations composed of a series of complex systems. In this case, managers cannot just solve problems but should be good at managing chaotic situations.

Don’t think linearly in a non-linear world

Circular Thinking®: Seeing the “Hidden” Loops

For complex social systems, it is also necessary to set appropriate boundaries. This allows us to consider everything comprehensively without missing important stakeholders, but without being too broad and complicated.

From local confinement to caring for the overall situation

Thinking Compass®: A Tool for Comprehensive Thinking

Use the Thinking Compass® for work system or task analysis

Define the boundaries of the system

In the field of systems thinking, people usually use closed loops composed of a series of interconnected variables to represent the key influencing factors in the system and their interconnections and important feedback, thereby reflecting the cause-and-effect relationships between complex things. , that is, the structure and essence of the system

The so-called "loop" is like an electric current or water flow. It starts from one place, passes through a series of links, and finally reacts on itself, forming a closed loop.

Loops are composed of variables and connections

Identify circuit characteristics

Complex problems, where there is a lot of uncertainty and dynamic change, like raising a child or running a business, where one must always be prepared to deal with a variety of unpredictable situations

1. Social complexity

2. Dynamic complexity Although there are not many subjects involved in some problems, there are many factors that affect and are affected by the problem, and there are intricate interactions or causal relationships between them. Even the mutual influence of cause and effect is not manifested at the same time. or space, leading to different dynamics over time.

Emergent complexity Otto believes that the stakeholders involved in some problems are unclear or have not yet been identified, and it is difficult to sort out the causal relationship that led to the problem, as well as the possible consequences of the problem, and even the problem itself and the mechanism behind it are unclear. It is still uncertain or unclear, and it is difficult to quantify. There is huge uncertainty in the future.

Set the problem and describe the event

Gather relevant information and identify behavioral patterns

Analyze structures, identify variables and connections, and draw causal loop diagrams

Reflect, emerge and improve mental models to find “fundamental solutions”

Adjusting the system through numbers (especially the size of the flow) is the least effective way, because it cannot change the basic structure of the system, but only adjusts some details.

If we can maintain a certain amount of raw material inventory, even if there are some fluctuations in upstream supply, the company can still produce relatively stably.

Rebuilding physical systems is usually the slowest, most expensive, and in some cases almost impossible.

Essentially, any regulatory loop requires three elements: the desired goal, a set of detection devices, and a series of reaction or correction mechanisms.

subtopic

Self-organization means that the system has the ability to make its own structure more and more complex. Self-organization is the basic mechanism for the evolution of biological systems, an important source of system adaptability, and an important condition for maintaining diversity, creativity, and vitality.

If the function or goal of the system is changed, the behavior of the system will naturally change fundamentally. Therefore, targets are important leverage point alternatives that influence system behavior.

First, the overall goal of some systems (especially some more complex systems) is not clearly stated, and it is not the sum of each of its local goals.

Second, each part of the system has its own goals, which are sometimes inconsistent with the overall goals of the system.

The essence of systems thinking is a paradigm shift in thinking.

To truly achieve systems thinking, we must change the concepts, basic rules, and generally accepted views on the nature of world reality that are generally accepted by society.

Because any of us will be controlled by paradigms at all times, everyone's information and thinking are limited.