1. SYSTEMS THINKINGMasters Degree Programme, FutuS2 Futures Research MethodsOtavan Opisto 15 February, 2012Anita Rubin

2. Systems Thinking is ...a way to understand phenomena and events,their characteristics and the relationshipsbetween them as one entity;a family of methods/methodology whichcreates a flexible and manifold tool to helphuman problem-solving in practice. 3. 3 4. The principles of systems thinkingA system is created by the Nature or human beings, physical, abstract, or human, a whole separated from its environment by a border (eg.skin, cell membrane, water pipes, Declaration ofIndependence) open or closed.A system is built on a hierarchical way. It is composed of differentlevels which have their own laws. Those laws cannot be directlyderived from the laws of a higher level, but the laws of a certainlevel affect the functions of the levels below them.Peter Checkland 1985 5. Systemic world view Universal principles of organisation apply to all systems5(physical, chemical, biological, social) Mechanistic world view: Full understading of anyphenomenon can be achieved by reducing it to its basiccomponents and analysing those parts. Universalanwers can be achieved this way. Systemic world view: Phenomena are more than theirparts. Universal answers can only be achieved byexceeding the material basis and concentrating on theabstract characteristics of the system. 6. Definitions of a SystemA System is a limited number of factors (actors, actions, interactions)between which there are continuous tensions andconnections to distinguish them as separate wholes;an organism which functions according to laws and rulesof its own. The organism is composed of smaller organisms,but it cannot be directly understood by merely analysing itssub-organisms. a group of characteristics which form a whole and theparts of which are related with each other in a definableway. 7. TheHierarchicalNature ofReality7 8. The Hierarchy of a System To be eligible for being defined as a system, a being has tohave at least two parts which are interconnected. The parts of a system form sub-systems (i.e. a human being blood circulation blood cells genes human being, etc.)The top system is called super-system. The super-system isalways more abstract and more general by nature than its sub-systems As such, a system is always more than a mere sum of its parts,or sub-systems. The higher in hierarchy a system functions, the more abstractand general it is by nature (i.e. a human being family community municipality state, etc.) 9. http://insicknessandinwealth.blogspot.com/2010/07/social-determinants-of-stress-response.html 10. 10Critical informationInflowing information which grows in amount or quality and forwhich the system is not properly prepared is called criticalinformation.The more critical information is flowing into the system, the moreunstable it becomes and the closer it approximates to a chaoticstate.The systems ability to self-regulation determines the level of itsorder.i.e. The Universe is not merely a combination of phenomena actingon their own, separate laws, but a whole of intermediating complexsystems.(Checkland 1985) 11. Natural and Human Systems1. Natural systems form the Nature as weknow it.2. Human systems have either been consciously built, or theyhave emerged as a result of human actions. Rational material systems (= planned by people)(i.e. the distribution network of electricity in a city) Planned abstract systems (= human-made conceptual wholes)(i.e. mathematics, philosophy, education system, etc.) Operational human systems (= the systems which have beencreated in order to carry out some purpose or to reach a goal(i.e. a choir, or political parties)3. Transcendental systems (of which we cannot know anything) 12. 12Self-regulation and fluctuationNew energy or information into human systems causesfluctuation in its internal processes.At the same time, the system pursues development (=fluctuation) with the help of cumulative and positivefeedback.Tendency to self-regulation(to achieve balance byusing amendatory ornegative feedback.)Tendency towardsmore and more specificand diverse state.Dissonance? 13. receives matter, energy and/or information from itsenvironment (=input); changes that energy, matter and/or information to someother form, and produces that matter, energy and/or information back toits environment in a changed form (= output); while it simultaneously maintains its own inner condition(=homeostasis) by eliminating extra fluctuation (of matter,energy and/or information) and by disturbing the influenceof external factors;/Open system 14. Open system (cont.) Aims at negative entropy, i.e. strives for survival andmaintaining its opertion; is hierarchically composed of sub- and super-systems; aims at separation and specialisation.In the feedback process, the system utilises energy which ittakes from its outer environment. The feedback process isimportant as the conveyor of information transportationand the success and development of the system aredependent on the functionality of the feedback.Therefore regulation is crucial in maintaining the systemseconomy. 15. The Emergent Nature of a SystemThe third law of thermodynamics Specialised energy The law of entropy 16. 16To understand a systemfocus has to be turned on the technical form of information output (i.e., how it istransmitted and what symbols are used); the accuracy of information (i.e. how well the symbolsdescribe the acitivities of the system); how effective the information is (i.e., how that informationinfluences the environment of the system and how theoutput process is necessary for the survival andmanaging of the system). 17. The Role of Feedbackin Open SystemsNegative feedback necessary for the self-direction and learning abilityof the system; guides the system to keep on the right track.Positive feedback result, product, i.e. output the sum of avoided negative alternatives..../... 18. Homeostacy the ability of a system tomaintain its inner condition; takes place by eliminatingredundant fluctuation andthe disturbing influence ofexternal stimulae or noise.In keeping up the economy of the opensystem, the crucial process is regulation. 19. Human-made systemsThe systems which have been created by human activity can bedivided into three wholes:1. Planned material systems which are formed as the result ofpurposeful planning (eg. the heating system of a building).2. Planned abstract systems are large, human-made wholes whichmay also include conceptual and deliberately-designed parts(eg. school).3. Planned functional systems which are composed as a result ofpeople fulfillling some mission or carrying out an assignment.They form systems in order to create something, or to acttogether, or to achieve a goal, etc. (eg. The Finnish learningsystem). 20. Learning beings and learning systemsOpen systems arelearning beings (Kuusi 1999; de Jouvenel1967) which are controlled by deterministic natural laws and their ownwill; are less predictable than non-learning beings and systems,and, their characteristics, abilities and needs can be observed.The aim of a learning being is its survival, development andreproduction. These processes call for processes which can bepassive (eg, registering perceptions in memory) or active(retrieving them back to conscious consideration and changingthem into activity). 21. Learning beings and learning systems (cont.) Learning organisation is a special case of learningbeings. The essential feature of an organisation as a learningsystem is its self-understanding (its conception that itsfunction has a direction and meaning). 22. Non-learning beings are open systems but in a different way than the learningbeings (closer to closed systems); are predictable when their history (previous stages, statesetc.) is recorded and can be established eg. by time series,and their present state is known; may seem like non-predictable, if their origins or state of thebeginning cannot be stated on sufficient accuracy (eg.machines, thermostats, gases); are not able of self-regulation, and therefore are on the way to decompositionof their parts, i.e. entropy.