The systems approach is a technique for the application of a scientific approach to complex problems. It concentrates on the analysis and design of the whole, as distinct from the components or the parts. It insists upon looking at a problem in its entirety, taking into account all the facets and all the variables, and relating the social to the technological aspects - "The Systems Approach," Simon Ramo, in Systems Concepts, edited by R. F. Miles, John Wiley & Sons, 1973 (Ramo is the R in TRW).
When we encounter complex and complicated problems, their solutions require a different approach. Ramo tells us how. But many times there are suggestions on how to approach the problem and its solution that are missing both the Critical Thinking skills and the Systems Thinking needed for success.
This has been known for some time ...
"When people know a number of things, and one of them understands how the things are systematically categorized and related, that person has an advantage over the others who don’t have the same understanding" - Luzatto, circa 1735
In a more recent understanding ...
"People who learn to read situations from different (theoretical) points of view have an advantage over those committed to a fixed position. For they are better able to recognize the limitations of a given perspective. They can see how situations and problems can be framed and reframed in different ways, allowing new kinds of solutions to emerge." - Images of Organization, G. Morgan, SAGE Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA, 1997.
It turns out the systems approach is not used enough when dealing with Software Intensive System of Systems, outside of domains where Systems Engineering is the culture. This system approach must be a learned skill. The non-systems thinker views problems from a single point of view or perspective, when in fact multiple viewpoints.
For success, anyone advocating a solution to a problem needs to start with a system view of the problem. This means starting with two facets
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Analysis: breaking a complicated topic into several smaller topics and thinking about each of the smaller topics. Analysis can be considered as a top-down approach to thinking about something and is associated with René Descartes (A Discourse on Method, Descartes, 1637, translated by E. S. Haldane and G. R. T. Ross, Washing Square Press, 1965). It has been termed reductionism because it is often used to reduce a complex topic to a number of smaller and simpler topics.
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Synthesis: combining two or more entities to form a more complex entity. Synthesis can be considered as a bottom-up approach to thinking about something.
So when you encounter a solution looking for a problem to solve, and there is no Root Cause Analysis of the problem, no analysis of the system in which the problem lies, and no synthesis of the corrective or preventive actions proposed to solve the problem, you will know the person you're talking with has failed to learn from Luzatto, Descartes, Ramo, and dozens of others. And if that person is unwilling to learn before practicing it's time to walk away from the conversation.
These ideas are from Systems Thinker's Toolbox: Tools for Managing Complexity, Joseph Eli Kasser, CRC Press, 2018. More advice, principles, processes, and tools can be found at The Systems Thinker
Some Resources
"When we set our focus on the level of detail that regulates most common questions…contingency dominates and the predictability of general form recedes into an irrelevant background," Wonderful Life, Stephen J. Gould, W. W. Norton, 1989, p. 290
- Aspects of Complexity: Managing Projects in a Complex World, Editor in Chief: Terry Cooke-Davis, Project Management Institute, 2011
- Drift into Failure: From Hunting Broken Components to Understanding Complex Systems, Sydney Dekker, Ashgate, 2011.
- "Engineering Systems Thinking and Systems Thinking," Moti Frank, Systems Engineering, Vol. 3, No. 3, 2000, pp. 163 - 168.
- "Systeme Engineering Over View," Systems Engineering Handbook: A Guide for System Lifecycle Processes and Activities: Fourth Edition, INCOSE-TP-2003-002-04, 2015.
- "Knowledge, Abilities, Cognitive Characteristics and Behavioral Competencies of Engineers with High Capacity for Engineering Systems Thinking (CEST)," Moti Frank, Systems Engineering, Vol. 9, No. 2, 2006, pp. 91 - 103.
- "Science, Strategy, and War: The Strategic Theor of John Boyd," Frans Osinga, Eburon Academic Publishers, 2005.
- “Systems Thinking for the Enterprise: New and Emerging Perspectives,” Rebovich, G., Jr., Proceedings of the 2006 IEEE International Conference on Systems of Systems, April 2006.
- "Systems Engineering Guide: The Collective Wisdom of MITRE's Systems Engineering Experts," MITRE Corporation, 2014.
- "Proceedings - Russell L. Ackoff and The Advent of Systems Thinking," The College of Commerce and Finance, Villanova University, March 4-6, 1999.
- "Complexity Decision Making and General Systems Theory: An Educational Perspective," M. Kudret Yourseven and Walter W. Buchanan, Sociology Study, Vol. 6, No. 2 pp. 77 - 95, February 2016.
- Managing Digital: Concepts and Practices, Charles T. Betz, The Open Group, 2018.
- "College of Complex Project Managers, and Defence Materiel Organization: Competency Standard for Complex Project Managers," Version 2.0, Commonwealth of Australia (Department of Defense), 2006.
- "Enterprise Systems Engineering Theory and Practice. Volume 2: Systems Thinking for the Enterprise: New and Emerging Perspectives, George Rebovich, MITRE Corporation, November 2005
- Systems Thinking: Building Maps for Worlds of Systems, John Boardman and Brian Sauser, John Wiley & Sons.
- Systems Thinking: Coping with 21st Century Problems, John Boardman and Brain Sauser, CRC Press.
