1. Systems Thinking: A
Shared Language for
Complexity
Facilitated by:
Todd Vatalaro

2. The Power of the Butterfly

3. History

4. Objectives
At the end of this
presentation, you will be
able to:
 Define Systems Thinking
 Use Systems Thinking in your own
business model

5. What is Systems
Thinking?
A problem solving language used to allow
people to understand their social system
and improve it

6. Why is it different than
fundamental problem
solving?
“Traditional analysis separates the
individual pieces of what is being
studied”
“System thinking focuses on how the thing
being studied interacts with the other
constituents of the system”
Aronson, Daniel, (1998) Overview of Systems Thinking. Retrieved July 4, 2002 fro
the World Wide Web: www.thinking.net

7. What does Systems
Thinking do?
Systems thinking looks at the entire picture
of the issue and all its interactive parts.
It studies how parts interrelate

8. Glass of water illustration

9. What is the advantage?
 Helps to solve complex issues
 Identifies issues with dependence on past
or actions of others
 Creates a model to visualize ineffective (or
effective) coordination of the actions of
the environment

10. Case Scenario: Insects
eating a crop
Pesticide
Application
Insects Damaging Crops
O
O = Change in opposite direction
S = Change in same direction

11. How is System Thinking
Used?
 Through casual loop diagrams or
“archetypes)
 Through a feedback process to look at
patterns of behavior and events

12. Tell a story over time
Insects damaging
Crops
Insects A
damagin
g crops
Pesticide
Applicati
on
Insect B
increase
s Insect
B
damag
e
TIme

13. Graph with a Loop

14. Systems Thinking Is
 A language to help solve complex issues
 Looks at the entire picture and its
interactions
 Uses casual loop diagrams to look at
patterns of behavior and events

15. Evaluation???