Systems Thinking and Systems Tools

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC. Adapted from the Field Guide to Consulting and Organizational Development and Field Guide to Consulting and Organizational Development with Nonprofits. Three of the biggest breakthroughs in how we understand and successfully guide changes in ourselves, others and organizations are systems theory, systems thinking and systems tools. To understand how they are used, we first must understand the concept of a system. Many of us have an intuitive understanding of the concept. Sections of This Topic Include Basics -- Definitions - - - What's a System? Also seeRelated Library Topics Also See the Library's Blogs Related to Systems Theory, Chaos Theory and Systems Thinking In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs that have posts related to Systems Theory, Chaos Theory and Systems Thinking . Definitions: Systems, Systems Theory, Systems Thinking, Tools What's a System? What's Systems Theory?

Systems thinking Impression of systems thinking about society[1] A system is composed of interrelated parts or components (structures) that cooperate in processes (behavior). Natural systems include biological entities, ocean currents, the climate, the solar system and ecosystems. Designed systems include airplanes, software systems, technologies and machines of all kinds, government agencies and business systems. Systems Thinking has at least some roots in the General System Theory that was advanced by Ludwig von Bertalanffy in the 1940s and furthered by Ross Ashby in the 1950s. Systems thinking has been applied to problem solving, by viewing "problems" as parts of an overall system, rather than reacting to specific parts, outcomes or events and potentially contributing to further development of unintended consequences. Systems science thinking attempts to illustrate how small catalytic events that are separated by distance and time can be the cause of significant changes in complex systems.

systemdynamics.de Knowledge Management Yes, knowledge management is the hottest subject of the day. The question is: what is this activity called knowledge management, and why is it so important to each and every one of us? The following writings, articles, and links offer some emerging perspectives in response to these questions. Content Developing a Context Like water, this rising tide of data can be viewed as an abundant, vital and necessary resource. Before attempting to address the question of knowledge management, it's probably appropriate to develop some perspective regarding this stuff called knowledge, which there seems to be such a desire to manage, really is. A collection of data is not information. The idea is that information, knowledge, and wisdom are more than simply collections. We begin with data, which is just a meaningless point in space and time, without reference to either space or time. Beyond relation there is pattern[bat88], where pattern is more than simply a relation of relations. An Example

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