**Where does systems thinking have its foundation?** Systems thinking has its foundation *in the field of system dynamics.* > **When was the field of system dynamics founded?** > The field of system dynamics was founded *in 1956.* > > **Who founded the field of system dynamics?** > The field of system dynamics was founded by *MIT professor Jay Forrester.* **Why did Jay Forrester found the field of system dynamics?** Jay Forrester founded the field of system dynamics *because he recognized the need for a better way of testing new ideas about social systems.* **What does systems thinking allow people to do?** Systems thinking allows people to *make their understanding of social systems explicit and improve them.* ... # The Systems Thinking Approach **What does the word "analysis" ultimately come from?** [(1)](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E1%BC%80%CE%BD%CE%B1%CE%BB%CF%8D%CF%89#Ancient_Greek) The word "analysis" ultimately comes from *the Ancient Greek word "ἀναλύω" meaning "to resolve into its elements."* > **What does traditional analysis focus on?** > Traditional analysis focuses on *separating the individual pieces of what is being studied.* **What does systems thinking focus on?** Systems thinking focuses on *how the thing being studied interacts with the other constituent parts of the system it is a part of.* > **What is the system of a thing being studied?** > The system of a thing being studied is *a set of elements that interact to produce behavior.* **What does traditional analysis do as an issue with a system is being studied?** As an issue with a system is being studied, traditional analysis *isolates smaller and smaller parts of the system.* **What does systems thinking do as an issue with a system is being studied?** As an issue with a system is being studied, systems thinking *expands its view to take into account larger and larger numbers of interactions.* **What does the differing methods of traditional analysis and systems thinking result in?** The different methods of traditional analysis and systems thinking results in *sometimes very different conclusions.* **What kinds of systems can cause very different conclusions when analyzed with traditional analysis and systems thinking?** The kinds of systems that can cause very different conclusions when analyzed with traditional analysis and systems thinking are *systems which:* * Are dynamically complex. * Have a great deal of feedback from other sources, either internal or external. **What types of problems is systems thinking effective at solving?** The types of problems which systems thinking is effective at solving are: * Those involving complex issues. * Those that depend on the past. * Those stemming from ineffective coordination among those involved. > [!example] Examples of problems where systems thinking has proven its value > * Complex problems which involve helping many actors see the "big picture" and not just their role in it. > * Recurring problems or those that have been made worse by past attempts to fix them. > * Problems where an action affects or is affected by the environment surrounding the issue. > * Problems whose solutions aren't obvious. # Use of Systems Thinking > [!example] Example of the difference between traditional analysis and systems thinking by trying to solve the issue of crop damage caused by insects > When an insect is eating a crop, the conventional response is to spray the crop with a pesticide. This type of thinking can be represented like so: > ```mermaid > flowchart LR > A(Pesticide Application) -- O --> B(Insects Damaging Crops) > ``` > According to this thinking, using more pesticide means fewer insects that damage crops. This way of thinking is incorrect because although it does lower the number of insects at first, it actually gets worse and less effective over time because the insects which initially damaged the crops kept the population of other insects in check. Once the population of the original insect gets low enough, the populations of the other insects grow and cause even more crop damage than before. This can be represented like so: > ```mermaid > graph > A(Number of Insect A Damaging Crop) -- // O --> B(Numbers of Insect B) > B -- S --> C(Numbers of Insect B Damaging Crop) > C -- S --> D(Total Number of Insects Damaging Crop) > D -- S --> E(Pesticide Application) > E -- O --> A > A -- S --> D > ``` > Other solutions have been created with the latter understanding in mind. For example, introducing more predators of the insect causing the crop damage to the area. This ends up being more effective than the original solution which solely relied on traditional analysis. **What do the arrows in a graph represent?** The arrows in a graph represent *the direction of causation.* > **What do the letters labelling each arrow indicate?** > The letters labelling each arrow indicate *the relationship between the variables on either end of the arrow.* > > **What does an arrow labelled with "O" mean?** > An arrow labelled with "O" means *the variable at the beginning of the arrow causes the variable at the end of the arrow to change in the opposite direction.* > > **What does an arrow labelled with "S" mean?** > An arrow labelled with "S" means *the variable at the beginning of the arrow causes the variable at the end of the arrow to change in the same direction.* > > **What does an arrow labelled with a hashmark and some letter indicate?** > An arrow labelled with a hashmark and some letter indicates *the effect of the variable at the beginning of the arrow on the variable at the end of the arrow is delayed.* ... # A Better Way to Deal with Our Most Difficult Problems ...