Basic Concepts of Systematic Thinking

BASIC CONCEPTS OF SYSTEMATIC THINKING A. Definition of Systematic Thinking Systematic thinking or system thinking is a way of looking at things as a whole, where the parts are interconnected. Looking at the whole means learning to understand each part that is related in a system. Systematic thinking can also be defined as a holistic approach to looking at a problem as a whole where the elements interact with each other. Another definition of system thinking or in Indonesian called system thinking is an approach to understanding various kinds of systems by emphasizing the relationship between elements in a system. Unlike the traditional way of analysis that studies a system by separating its elements, systems thinking sees the system through a broader perspective. This causes the output produced by systems thinking to be more accurate and realistic. An example of the object of systems thinking is the ecosystem of living things where there are various elements such as air, water, humans, plants animals and others. Quoted from Louise Kelly & Chris Booth (2004; Dictionary of Strategy: Strategic Management), system thinking is a way of helping someone to see the system from a broad perspective, by looking at the overall structure, patterns, and cycles in the system, rather than just looking at certain events in the system. It can be concluded that system thinking is an approach to solving problems that requires holistic thinking and reductionist thinking in balance. By understanding the system as a whole as well as in detail can avoid the emergence of unwanted outputs. The character of Systems Thinking is able to solve difficult problems very effectively especially those that involve complex problems, have a lot of feedback both internally and externally and problems that are very dependent on past events or other events compared to linear thinking. In systems science it is also explained that the only way to properly understand how a problem can occur is to understand its relationship in the whole system. Systems science thinking tries to illustrate that a small event separated by time and space can have a larger impact on a more complex system. B. History of Systems Thinking Systems thinking has its basis in various sources such as Jan Smuts' Hollis concept in the 1920s, systems theory proposed by Ludwig von Bertalanffy in the 1940s, and cybernetics proposed by Ross Ashby in the 1950s. The field was then developed by Jay Forrester, a professor at MIT, in 1956. In the book The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge, it is explained that systems thinking is the pillar/basic concept of learning organization. Dana Meadow (1938) said that "... if we are to undertake the thorough restructuring of systems necessary to solve the world's most severe problems ... the first step is to think differently. Everybody thinks differently. The whole society thinks differently". This can be taken to mean that if we want to carry out the comprehensive system restructuring necessary to solve the world's most severe problems ... the first step is to think differently. Everyone thinks differently. Whole societies think differently. In 1994 George Richardson in "Systems Thinkers, Systems Thinking" pointed out that the idea of thinking systematically about a problem has a long history in various fields. Richardson said the term systems thinking only began to be used in the field of dynamic systems in the late 1980s. In the special issues of "Systems Dynamic Review" for a decade no one had explained the definition of systems thinking that was accepted by all the dynamic systems community, so Richardson developed a project to test all the attributes of systems thinkers. Eventually, systems thinking began to be implemented in all schools over the last 20 years. Many researchers also point out the importance of systems thinking to improve the quality of critical thinking and decision-making skills such as Chang (2001), Costello (2001), Costello et al. (2001) Draper (1991), Grant (1997), Hight (1995), Lannon-Kim (1991) Lyneis and Fox-Melanson (2001) Lyneis (2000), Richardson (2001), and Waters Foundation (2006). C. Approaches to System Thinking There are several approaches to system thinking that involve the following principles: a. Holism It is the thought that the system must be invited as a whole b. Input and output In a closed system, the input is determined once and is constant, while in an open system there are additional inputs that come from the environment. c. Entropy A unit to measure abnormalities that exist in a system. d. Hierarchy Something complex made of several smaller subsystems e. Goal seeking A systemic interaction must have a common goal or end state. f. Regulation Feedback methods are needed so that the system works as expected g. Equifinality Alternative ways to achieve the same goal h. Multifinality Achieving alternative goals from the same input i. Differentiation Specialized units have specialized functions as well j. Dualism Two contradictory but very important characteristics of a system k. Modularity Separating or combining elements of a system according to their interrelationships l. Abstraction The process of removing a system's characteristics to establish basic characteristics m. Relationship The relationship between elements in a system n. Encapsulation Hiding system elements and their interactions from the external environment D. System Thinker Characteristic ● think in whole rather than in parts ● see things in the bigger picture ● look for the effects of an action ● identify how relationships can affect the system ● understand the concept of dynamic behavior ● understand how system structure shapes system behavior ● see things from different perspectives E. Use of System Thinking Systems thinking has been used to solve many problems from various fields such as business analysis, business management, healthcare, computing, manufacturing, sustainable development, epidemiology and others. Systems thinking uses computer simulations, various diagrams and graphs to model, illustrate and predict system behavior. Examples of systems thinking tools are behavior over time (BOT) graphs that show the actions of one or more variables over a period of time, causal loop diagrams (CLD) that illustrate the relationships between elements in the system, management flight simulators that use interactive programs to simulate the effects of management decisions, and simulation models that simulate the interactions between elements in the system over time.