Systems Thinking expert, Alidad Hamidi, discusses the importance of understanding that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. He emphasizes the need to bring people together to agree on the issue, goal, and scope of the system. By continuously asking why and creating a model of interactions, we can design effective solutions. Alidad also highlights the significance of looking at the interactions between our system and other systems, and seeking solutions outside the agile community.
Systems thinking emphasizes holistic views and interactions within organizations for better outcomes.
Different traditions like system dynamics and soft system theory offer unique perspectives on analyzing complex systems.
Deep dives
Introduction to Systems Thinking
Systems thinking involves understanding the holistic view and interactions of various components within an organization. It emphasizes looking at relationships rather than individual parts to determine outcomes. By focusing on interactions and handoffs within a system, organizations can measure the system's performance and seek improvements. Creating boundaries and perspectives helps in defining areas of focus and understanding the broader impact of interventions.
Critical Analysis of Systems Thinking Traditions
Systems thinking encompasses different traditions like system dynamics, soft system theory, and critical systems heuristics, each offering unique perspectives on viewing and analyzing complex systems. System dynamics emphasizes a holistic view of systems, while soft system theory focuses on human perspectives and subjective viewpoints. Critical systems heuristics delve into power dynamics, individual biases, and worldviews, offering a reflective approach to understanding problem dynamics.
Application of Systems Thinking in Business Agility
Systems thinking can be applied to diagnose complex problems, design organizational solutions, and create models for better decision-making. By adopting a systemic lens, organizations can achieve sustainable business agility and optimize their operations. Systems thinking provides patterns and methods that enhance agility by offering a broader, more inclusive perspective on organizational dynamics and potential interventions.
Impact of Systems Thinking on Real-world Scenarios
The podcast explores real-world examples like addressing homelessness or managing the COVID-19 crisis through a systems thinking approach. By considering interactions across health, economic, and cultural systems, interventions can be more effective and comprehensive. Systems thinking facilitates a multi-perspective view of complex issues, enabling stakeholders to collaborate and implement holistic solutions for better outcomes.
Join Murray Robinson and Shane Gibson in a conversation with Alidad Hamidi about Systems Thinking. Systems Thinking is about understanding that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. It is the interactions between things that drive the outcome. For example, cutting costs locally often increases costs globally. One person's solution is often another person's problem. To solve the real problem, we need to bring people together to agree on the issue, the goal and the scope of the system. Then we need to keep asking why until we can create a model of how everything interacts. Then we can design a solution, try it out and see what happens to the system as a whole. As we are doing this, we need to look at the interactions between our system and other systems. And we need to look outside the agile community for ideas and solutions.
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