Systems Thinking
Updated September 2000

 

"What is in the nature of systems is a continuing perception and deception, a continuing re/viewing of the world, of the whole system and of its components. The essence of the systems approach, therefore, is confusion as well as enlightenment. The two are inseparable aspects of human living."

    C. West Churchman, "The Systems Approach"

Systems thinking is a way to understand complex reality. It is a way to give form to structures and processes experienced in everyday situations. It is a process of inquiry which results in a design synthesis rather than in an analytic description. Systems thinking incorporates an understanding of emergent qualities arising out of complex relationships.