Seeing the Whole: Practicing Systems Thinking
In a recent and wide-ranging conversation with my sister-in-law, a chemistry professor, we found ourselves discussing – among other seemingly disparate topics – the composition of stainless steel.
As she explained how even the smallest change in the elements or their proportions can dramatically alter its properties, I was struck by how apt a metaphor this is for the Resilient Leadership (RL) concept of systems thinking. To think systems is to tune into the whole living ecosystem of an organization, rather than just seeking to diagnose and fix what is broken.
Like metallurgists ensuring the proper balance of chromium, nickel, and iron, leaders must notice not just the major crises but also the nuance of subtle shifts that signal the organization’s balance is changing.
Because organizational systems are non-linear and interactive, small changes can reverberate widely. Leaders who think systems cultivate self-awareness, notice when they are spreading their own anxiety, and reflect on the patterns of action, reaction, and interaction that shape the emotional system around them.
Systems thinking begins with a leader’s own awareness of how their calm or anxiety is amplified throughout the emotional system of an organization. They also recognize when they are taking on too much (over-functioning) or under-functioning (withdrawing), understanding how those shifts affect the balance of the whole. Challenges can then be seen as windows into the larger organizational fluctuations that might be at play instead of just individual problems to fix in isolation.
The dynamics of an emotional system tend to operate beneath the level of conscious awareness, thus are not always observable, so thinking systems can’t be achieved by following a static process. Rather, it’s adopting practices of observation and reflection to cultivate a system thinking mindset.
Systems Thinking Practices
Zoom In & Zoom Out: Practice intentionally shifting between focusing on the fine details of a situation and then stepping back to see the bigger picture to understand individual aspects and their larger context. The RL practice of Getting on the Balcony could be useful to gain this broader perspective.
Get Comfortable with Paradox: Recognize that a system is more than the sum of its parts. Organizational behaviors emerge from the relationships and interactions among all parts. Optimizing or minimizing any one component could potentially harm the performance of the overall system.
Check Assumptions: Be aware of your own biases, mindsets, and mental models. How you frame a problem determines the solutions you see so shifting perspective is key to revealing new possibilities.
What if you could see the challenges or changes in your organization not as problems to be fixed, but something to notice? Systems thinking invites us to resist knee jerk reactions to individual events and instead get curious about what is rippling beneath the observable surface. By practicing this kind of heightened awareness, leaders can become stabilizing forces who are capable of transforming tension into clarity and disruption into possibility.
What might change if instead of asking: “How do I solve this?” you choose to ask:
“What is this moment showing me about the system … and about myself?”