Course overview
Many of today's complex challenges cannot be tackled with the narrowly-focused, unconnected thinking of the past. Managers must make decisions and take action in complex environments in which finance, economics, markets, people and nature are interconnected and interdependent. This messy interconnectedness blurs the boundaries between organisations, communities and fields of expertise nothing is neat and tidy. Systems thinking focuses on the relationships among system elements and the interactions of the system with its environment, as opposed to focusing on the elements themselves. It is holistic (integrative) thinking instead of analytic (dissective) thinking. This course will introduce you to the world of systems and systems thinking. We will consider the merits of looking at wholes, rather than unconnected parts, and we will explore ways in which managers can make use of the nature of systems, even in complex, unpredictable environments, to influence outcomes in a more profound way than can be achieved with linear or mechanistic thinking.
Course learning outcomes
- Combine the elements of complexity and systems with the role of connectedness to gain a better insight into local and global issues
- Discriminate between the structural components of systems and how they shape system behaviour
- Choose appropriate system locations to intervene when system change is required
- Compare and resolve the archetypal patterns of systems dynamics that may give rise to unintended consequences of systems interventions
- Propose systems interventions in an insightful way within identified boundaries
- Diagnose uncertain, messy systems environments and the issues that emerge from complex living systems