Basic Concept Of Systematic Thinking

BASIC CONCEPT OF SYSTEMATIC THINKING A. Definition of Systematic Thinking Systematic thinking or system thinking is a way of viewing something as a whole, where the parts are interconnected. Viewing as a whole means studying to understand each related part in a system. Systematic thinking can also be defined as a holistic approach to viewing a problem as a whole where the elements in it interact with each other. Another definition of system thinking or in Indonesian called system thinking is an approach to be able to understand various systems by emphasizing the relationships between elements in a system. Unlike the traditional analysis method that studies a system by separating its elements, systems thinking sees the system from a broader perspective. This causes the output produced by systems thinking to be more accurate and realistic. An example of an 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 to help someone see the system from a broad perspective, by looking at the entire structure, patterns, and cycles within 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 require holistic thinking and reductionist thinking in a balanced way. By understanding the system as a whole and in detail, it can avoid the emergence of unwanted output. The character of Systems Thinking is able to solve difficult problems very effectively, especially those involving complex problems, having a lot of feedback both internal and external 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 understand well how a problem can occur is to understand its relationship in the entire system. Systems science thinking tries to illustrate that a small event separated by space and time can have a greater impact on a more complex system. B. History of Systematic 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 later developed by Jay Forrester, a professor at MIT, in 1956. In the book The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge, it explains that systems thinking is a pillar / basic concept of learning organization. Dana Meadow (1938) said that ".. if we want to carry out the complete restructuring of the system needed to solve the world's most serious problems ... the first step is to think differently. Everyone thinks differently. The whole society thinks differently". This can be meant if we want to carry out the complete restructuring of the system needed to solve the world's most serious problems ... the first step is to think differently. Everyone thinks differently. The whole society thinks differently. In 1994 George Richardson in “Systems Thinkers, Systems Thinking” showed 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 systems dynamics in the late 1980s. In special issues of “Systems Dynamics Review” for a decade there was no definition of systems thinking that was accepted by the entire systems dynamics community, so Richardson developed a project to test all the attributes of systems thinkers. Until finally systems thinking began to be implemented in all schools for the past 20 years. Many researchers also show 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 several principles as follows: a) Holism Is the idea that the system must be invited as a whole b) Input and output In a closed system, input is determined once and is constant, while in an open system there is additional input from the environment c) Entropy A unit for measuring the disorder that exists in a system d) Hierarchy Something complex is made up of several smaller subsystems e) Goal seeking A systemic interaction must have the same goal or end condition 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 j) Dualism Two contradictory but essential characteristics of a system k) Modularity Separating or combining elements of a system according to their interrelationships l) Abstraction The process of removing a characteristic of a system to establish its basic characteristics m) Relationship The relationship between elements in a system n) Encapsulation Hiding system elements and their interactions from the external environment D. Characteristics of System Thinkers • think holistically rather than in parts • see things in a bigger picture • find out the effects of an action • identify how a relationship can affect the system • understand the concept of dynamic behavior • understand how the structure of the system shapes the behavior of the system • 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, health, 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 certain period of time, causal loop diagrams (CLD) that describe the relationships between elements in a system, management flight simulators that use interactive programs to simulate the effects of management decisions, and simulation models that simulate the interaction between elements in a system over time.