Describe systems thinking in your own words. Use resources from this unit or from your own research

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Question:

Describe systems thinking in your own words. Use resources from this unit or from your own research to support your description. Also, please discuss a time you have used systems thinking to solve a problem. How does your example meet your definition of systems thinking? In response to your classmates, compare/contrast your descriptions of systems thinking. What are the similarities and what are the gaps?

When it comes to system thinking I look at it the same way I currently look at my Job in the military. Sometimes, we just look at our area of expertise to try and get the mission done. However, in today's military, with the internet and the young soldiers that we have, they like to know the "why" of what they are doing. We like to call it looking at how our mission affects "Big Army." I am in charge of training units before they deploy to wherever they are going. To do my job at an exceptional level, I need to understand where my piece fits in the puzzle, which in turn makes me look at the bigger picture and not just the small mission at hand.

Another way to look at this is if you had a stream on your property, a nice sized one. And you wanted to build a dam, you would have to look at it from a whole perspective. building that dam would not just affect your piece of the stream but those up stream from where its coming from as well as those down stream that may depend on that water flow. So you would have to look at the system as a whole and not your little area.

Systems thinking expands the range of choices available for solving a problem by broadening our thinking and helping us articulate problems in new and different ways. At the same time, the principles of systems thinking make us aware that there are no perfect solutions; the choices we make will have an impact on other parts of the system.(Goodman,2018)

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Systems thinking is a holistic approach to understanding and analyzing complex systems by examining the interactions and interdependencies of its various components. It involves viewing a system as a whole, rather than as individual parts, and recognizing that the behavior of the system is influenced by the relationships and feedback loops among its elements. This approach emphasizes the interconnectedness of different elements within a system and seeks to understand how changes in one part can affect the entire system.

According to Peter Senge, a renowned expert in organizational development and systems thinking, “Systems thinking is a discipline for seeing wholes. It is a framework for seeing interrelationships rather than things, for seeing patterns of change rather than static ‘snapshots’.” This definition highlights the fundamental principle of systems thinking - the focus on understanding the dynamic nature of systems and how they evolve over time.

An example of applying systems thinking can be seen in environmental sustainability efforts. When addressing environmental issues, it is crucial to consider the interconnectedness of various factors such as climate change, biodiversity loss, resource depletion, and human activities. By adopting a systems thinking approach, one can recognize the complex web of interactions between these factors and develop comprehensive strategies that account for their interdependencies.

In my personal experience, I used systems thinking to address challenges within a manufacturing process at my previous workplace. The production line was experiencing frequent breakdowns, leading to delays and increased costs. Instead of focusing solely on repairing individual machines, I applied systems thinking to analyze the entire production process. I identified that the breakdowns were not isolated incidents but were interconnected with issues such as maintenance scheduling, operator training, and supply chain disruptions. By addressing these interrelated factors holistically rather than in isolation, we were able to improve overall equipment effectiveness and reduce downtime significant.