Last year, I had the wonderful experience of studying Systems Thinking while doing my Masters in Applied Positive Psychology.
My key takeaways from Systems Thinking were this:
Leaders can bring about positive change within the whole system.
Leadership opportunities are everywhere - in families, in workplaces, in schools, and in community groups.
The learning journey to this insight is as follows.
We are all part of a system - an ecosystem - not just the sciency/naturalist one, but a social, emotional, relational, economic, political, and cultural one too.
We are all a system as an individual, as well as in groups.
There are systems within us that make us, us. And there are systems outside of us that we are a part of, that not only make us who we are but also make up the bigger system. Inside out, and outside in.
There are symbiotic and transactional relationships between, and amongst systems - not just singular and binary, but cross dimensional, and multidimensional ones.
Too complex? Indeed it is. But not for me, because, I am by design and temperament, a systems thinker. Couple that with my education, and experience in Psychology, it becomes my expertise - to help you create growth without additional effort and undue stress.
Take, for example, a family as a system. A problem arises when a child starts showing signs of maladaptive behavior, such as picky eating. The parents' approach to bribing or even threatening the child into eating, or employing screen time as a tool to get the child to eat, would produce only momentary results and increases the likelihood of long-term problems - an example of an initiative that has failed. A systems approach would work with the family as a whole, by identifying the root cause of picky eating, building the parents' capacity to respond to it, identifying and mitigating the possible obstacles and impediments, and using an iterative approach to reach the expected solution of having the child eat a healthy diet.
Every system starts with the individual - more particularly, a child. So, if we nurture every child from the get-go, we would have a thriving world? Alas, that does not happen as often as we would like it to. (Fret not though, because even if an individual did not get the ideal support from the get-go, it is still possible to have positive growth later in life.)
So in essence, if every individual is nurtured to explore and fulfill their potential, we will eventually have an overall thriving system? Possibly.
It is also possible that even if we have a system where everyone is thriving, it fails to become a holistically thriving one. And initiatives and projects fail. Because we did not take the symbiotic and transactional dynamics into account.
For instance, an organization's attempts to reduce employee turnover fail even when they increase salaries and benefits. The reason? They may have failed to take into account a holistic and complex view of the reasons for employee turnover and implemented a band-aid to the problem of employees leaving instead. A systems approach would dictate that the organization invests in curbing the problem using a systems approach - but understanding the underlying causes, as well as the complex interactions of the different facets leading to and stemming from the problem - and then develop and implement a systems-wide solution. While expensive, this would lead to long-term sustainable results and reduced project and initiative failure.
Systems approach is when you take complex dynamics and interactions into account as opposed to linear or reductionist approaches where only one or a few factors are considered and reactive, skills-based solutions are applied. It's the underlying factors, and the interactions between the different layers and factors within an individual or a group of people that make it a System.
So two factors that you need for a thriving system - be it a family, a workplace, a classroom, or a community, are: thriving individuals, and thriving dynamics.
Systems-informed leaders can play a crucial role in initiating and guiding positive system-wide sustainable change within their spaces. These leaders are everywhere: within personal and professional spaces.
Being a systems thinker with expertise in human psychology, I help leaders in workplaces, schools, families, and communities to grow and thrive, by understanding their systemic potential, taking agency, developing autonomous accountability, and creating meaningful interpersonal relationships.
If you are looking to create growth and wellbeing within your system - be it your family, your school, your workplace, or your community - book a free discovery call with me today to find out how you can take charge to increase your system's growth without added effort or stress.
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