Introduction to Systems Thinking
People and organizations use a variety of approaches to understand their problems and challenges. Some opt for an approach that is based on quantitative analysis; others pay more attention to people and relationships; and still others emphasize business intuition and previous experience. A Systems Thinking approach borrows from all these methods and creates a "systemic, big picture" view for understanding the issues at hand.

The Systems Thinking approach, popularized by Peter Senge in the 90s, seeks to understand the underlying systems and dynamics affecting our lives. One of the cornerstones of Systems Thinking is the belief that there are three primary ways to understand and interact in the world in which we live:

1. The Event Level - Things that happen.
2. The Pattern Level - Trends of events overtime.
3. The Structural Level - How things are "set-up" to happen.

Systems Thinking believes the best "leverage" for lasting, fundamental change (and sanity) resides in understanding and interacting within the structural level.


Systems Thinking Tools for Learning & Action
Through Behavioral Charts, Casual Loop Diagrams and other tools, SBS Partners helps you to better understand your challenges and to intervene at the structural level so that what gets fixed, stays fixed.

Three Ways for Understanding & Learning / Systems Thinking Tools…

Systems Thinking Benefits
Systems Thinking offers you and your company a unique way to understand the issues it faces, and cultivates company ability to handle these complex and dynamic problems and challenges. In doing so, the company is able to make choices that foster “systems” change.

More specifically, Systems Thinking can help you to:

• Understand problems that are not immediately obvious.
• Understand and manage complex situations that involve many variables.
• Understand and solve recurring problems, regardless of past interventions.
• Create whole system solutions while working to realize your aspirations.