Having defined what exactly is not systems thinking, we still can’t give one precise definition of this concept. Just like we can’t give one correct answer to the question: what is a machine? We can try and provide many different answers, but most likely, we will try to immediately assess who is asking this question and why that person is interested in it (as we remember, everyone has their own perspective on reality). Either it will be some kind of car, maybe a dishwasher, laptop or even a washing machine. The same can be said about systems thinking if we are looking from different points of view. We will break down two of the most important concepts that are often referred to when talking about systems thinking:
- systems thinking as a transdiscipline;
- systems thinking as a function or behavior of intelligence.
Transdiscipline is a discipline (point of view in the world, perspective on reality), that can be used across multiple other disciplines. For example, the concepts and principles of systems thinking are fully relevant and are applied in entrepreneurship, engineering, and management. Terefore, systems thinking would be a transdiscipline for those disciplines.
The first perspective implies that “systems thinking” is the name for a transdiscipline. Therefore, when people talk about systems thinking, they mean some kind of representation of the world (theory, discipline) with their own concepts and models. It’s similar to when we talk about accounting or marketing. The transdiscipline of systems thinking is mastered, like in any other discipline, through the conscious learning of concepts and models, starting with the training of the right spectrum of thinking (see below the thinking spectrum).
The second perspective comes from the word “thinking”. As we said earlier, thinking is a behavior or function of the brain. Systems thinking can be thought of as the behavior of the intellect (as part of the brain). The behavior of the brain is based on the different world views that are loaded into the brain, therefore, systems thinking is the behavior of the intellect based on the loaded transdiscipline “systems thinking”. In this context, this exact behavior of the intellect must be developed through the study of the corresponding transdiscipline. As the skill of the transdiscipline is being trained, the behavior of the intellect becomes more rapid, that is, systems thinking moves to the left of the thinking spectrum. The training takes place through the implementation of working projects. Within the framework of these projects, a system definition is drawn up according to the transdiscipline. Part of the training is also the creation of successful systems using applied practices.
Most of the time people do not analyze how they think, thoughts are somehow formed by themselves. Systems thinking is how you will think when faced with complex new situations, projects, and problems.
Systems thinking is a way of thinking.
Thus, by studying the transdiscipline “systems thinking”, we teach the brain to think about new complex problems using the concept of a system along with other concepts. Or it can also be said that systems thinking is part of the mental skill of cutting the world into systems while combining different interests and pictures of the world through the concepts and principles of the corresponding transdiscipline.