Instead, the goal you should set here should be achieving a healthier state of the system. Use the shorter length of time for larger groups so that you can jump into presentations faster. As little as 5 minutes to create a quick overview and get you thinking about stakeholders within the system. Thus use a minus () when an increase in one factor causes another factor to decrease or likewise, a decrease in one factor causes another factor to increase. Highlight particular insights you have taken from your map. We'll ease you into the core theory of Systems Thinking and put it into practice through a set of carefully-chosen key . Implies that some actions may result in different effects even given the same initial state. Stay focussed during mapping by reminding yourself and other participants on why you are creating this map (your goals) and the boundaries you are setting on what you want to map. Description extracted from an original submission by Patrick Hoverstadt. For example, considering the child protection system from a childs, parents and front-line workers point of view. Develop a basic understanding of systems change evaluation and how it differs from program evaluation. Frame your factors as something that can increase or decrease (for example number of civil servants, level of trust). For a step-by-step guide on systems change evaluation, refer to the comprehensive A Practical Guide to Evaluating Systems Change in a Human Services Systems Context. This toolkit introduces systems thinking and tools for recognizing and seeing racism as a system. Tamara Finkelstein, Head of the Government Policy Profession. As such, Ive only used short descriptions and common examples because they seem to be easier for most people to quickly digest. The insight being explored is how an organizations work may, like a natural ecosystem, go through life stages over time. Like the other tools in this toolkit, this tool works best when you bring in the views of others. What do you think is missing? 1 to 2 hours to create a stock and flow diagram of a small, simple part of your system. It will take only 2 minutes to fill in. It does not store any personal data. iii. It shows a potentially helpful sequential process behind government action at local, national and international levels. These are statements that use an if-then-because structure to articulate the logic behind the action you want to take and the effect it will have directly, indirectly on the entire system. c. Is it useful to draw a rich picture for different levels of the system, for example, you might start off very high level, considering your system from a global point of view, and then draw subsequent rich pictures at a national, local and team level. 7. #47. Stacey matrix: A two by two matrix to help categorize actions or tasks based on level of complexity. In this case, Ive found that a dozen causal loop diagrams can be overwhelming for most people. If youre operating in a system and its likely you are becoming familiar with the tools below can enhance your complex problem-solving ability. Using the right approach to tackle this complexity can lead to more efficient use of resource, more joined-up thinking and consistent government messaging. Root causes: The root causes metaphor is all about finding a conditions initiating cause. The team are not sure that they understand the problem fully, and there is significant diversity in opinion amongst stakeholders about what interventions should be made. That means youre more likely to solve system problems and create the long-term impact you want. Friend, J, Hickling, J. #63. The team keep this discussion to refer to throughout the project and inform decision making. 27(1):57-79. doi:10.1177/1356389020976153. They are designed to help all civil servants gain a better understanding of their work area and ultimately to improve all of our outputs. From these discussions they then consider what actions they could take that could have a ripple effect across the system, including where the areas of leverage are. A system is a set of elements or parts interconnected in such a way that they produce their own pattern of behaviour over time. Understanding how to achieve that goal, and intelligently exploring and leveraging parts of the system to unlock to achieve it, are all parts of a systems thinking approach. Overcome barriers to market growth (leads to 2 and 3), 2. Figure 10: Example of choosing scale for your map: a street map vs motorway map. I think these impacts will occur because. The evidence for why your action will lead to your expected outcome. Events occur at specific moments in time and result in state changes for the system. CSH is an evaluation tool that questions perspectives about means and ends by asking what is and what should be. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. You will better understand the variety of perspectives within the system/problem, which will help as you start designing and implementing interventions. They also have a Guide to system mapping blog series. How zoomed in are you going to go, are you aiming for a street map or a tube map? Recognizing basic variable relationships, as well as how they add up to common dynamics can help you more quickly see a system. Policy structure diagram: A visual representation of steps in a decision-making processes. Now you have a compelling problem statement share it with others in the system to help explain why you need to make changes in the current system. This is particularly apt for social problems in our society that are so interrelated as to be impossible to discuss in isolation. FEATURED TOOL OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT A balanced suite of logical and visual tools to support group decision-making, with roots in a sustained programme of applied research in public policy and planning processes by operational researchers and social scientists. It allows you to share the story of your map with others who havent been part of the mapping process. Is it useful to consider the system from a particular perspective or lens? Planning under Pressure. In this step, you will explore the assumptions implicit in your planned interventions to the system and compose the questions you will use to evaluate your interventions. It is important to recognize the type of systems problem you face because it has implications for how you should approach it. There are also systems thinking apprenticeships available that cover these techniques. Or, a decrease in X decreases Y, which in turn decreases X. The rich picture provides a useful diagram for them to communicate with and the team talk to stakeholders to sense-check their understanding and iterate their rich picture in response to feedback. Mapping your system is helpful when your system has so many stakeholders and policy areas that you and your team cant hold all the interdependencies in your mind, you need a visual prompt. The Practice of Making Strategy. It is called the pig model based on an original example provided by Gareth Morgan (1997)[footnote 5] and adapted by systems thinking experts in the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL). Try to structure as The current system moves away from our desired outcome because it . Making Strategy: The Journey of Strategic Management. Systems thinking provides a toolkit that fosters the understanding of interdependencies, interactions, and interrelations across and within any system. Once you have completed the model, share your analysis with the stakeholders and ask: Have I captured your position in the system accurately? This discipline helps us to see how to change systems more effectively, and to act more in tune with the natural processes of the natural and economic world." They are accumulations. Things to look out for in your map to help you spot important stories are the parts that are: a. influential (high number of outward causal connections) b. central (well connected, or bridging different parts of the map) c. influenced (many incoming causal connections) d. Identify missing relationships between loops or factors and consider what systemic failures or problems flow from that e. Consider which parts of the map help explain past policy or implementation intervention successes or failures such as how the system creates and maintains itself Once you have designed your narrative, test it on multiple system stakeholders especially those who may challenge your thinking. This section of the toolkit aims to help you assess your programs strengths and barriers and create a partnership strategy. Throughout this process our aim has been to meet the needs of our primary audience: civil servants aiming to start to use systems thinking in their work. This type of simulation is particularly helpful in understanding complex behavior in processes, like in manufacturing and supply chains. Our description of how to describe the relationships between factors is a rule of thumb chosen for simplicity and accessibility, rather than a precise or comprehensive definition. Plan and build a comprehensive referral system. Many systems will have both reinforcing and balancing loops, as shown in figure 15 below. b. Fundamental objectives hierarchy: A way of decomposing and organizing objectives that clarifies which are most important and which are a simply a means to another objective. You can oversimplify a system to the point where models are of little practical use or you may attempt to replicate the system too closely, which loses the problem-focus. The systems thinking tools fall under several broad categories: brainstorming tools, dynamic thinking tools, structural thinking tools, and computer based . Often in complex systems risk, as well as value, is visible locally but cannot be seen totally from the centre. Ackermann, F, Eden, C. (2014). Thus as a road map, ToC maps can provide a useful indication of whether an intervention is on course to achieve its aims. In the previous principle, you used tools to help establish an understanding of the key issues within your system and to start establishing a collaborating community. From this the team plan where in the system they should engage and gather information and data to help inform their work. g. Consider the nature of the relationships between different stakeholders or organisations do they have common or opposing opinions or beliefs? When a challenge is complex and adaptive, when there is a diversity of opinions about what to do, and when the nature of the problem itself is unclear let alone the path to a solution, systems thinking might be a good approach. The team avoid taking a linear approach (assuming a straightforward cause and effect between their activities or inputs and expected impacts) but instead understand the context that their problem sits within. b. #25. Additional time to expand and feed in the views and perspectives of others. Systems thinking toolkit This toolkit from FSG identifies several key tools that support systems thinking. Key questions to test your assumptions, assess the impact of your work, the degree to which your actions are producing intended results and why or why not. STEP 3 Use the tool guides included in this report to facilitate a systems thinking activity. This short video (2 minutes) from Peter Senge, an organizational development and systems . Interconnectedness: The general everything is connected to everything else, like an ecosystem. 3. Review Each Drawing. They gain buy-in for their intervention as a result and by using their key performance questions to monitor and evaluate their intervention this allows them to ensure that the intervention produces their desired outcome. Agent-based Modeling: What is agent -based modeling? Tracing Connections: Voices of Systems Thinkers, Lebanon NH: issue systems inc. in collaboration with The Creative Learning Exchange. However, they are signposted in Annex 2 Further reading and additional systems tools. Rosenhead, J., Mingers, J. By embracing the complexity and dynamics of their system when planning their intervention, rather than assuming a linear cause and effect relationship between their intervention and the outcome, the team can aim to achieve fundamental system change rather than a short-term intervention that may have limited impact. Creating Behaviour over Time Graphs or System Problem Statements will help you with this. Who is in control of these resources? Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. High doesnt require any systems thinking expertise or specialist software. As you consider the problem, the stakeholders, the predictability of the policy setting and your ambition, see if you relate more to the right or left hand side statements. We can observe, understand, and intervene in feedback loops once we understand their type and dynamics. Is some failure acceptable? Description extracted from an original submission by Michael C. Jackson: Critical systems thinking is an approach to complex problem situations that seeks to bring about meaningful improvement by making the best use of the variety of systems methodologies, models and methods. Working and teaching systems thinking for years has led me to develop additional new tools, as well as employ these time-honored concepts from the pioneers. Systems thinking looks at organizations as systems; it analyzes how the parts of an organization interrelate and how the organization as a whole performs over time. Likewise X part of the map help explain past policy or implementation intervention successes or failures. The related insight, according to Ackoff, is that the sum of the optimal solutions to each component problem taken separately is no an optimal solution to the mess., #2. Drawing a context diagram will help you and your team step back and identify what and who you need to influence to achieve your desired outcome. Additionally, when they share their stock and flow diagram with others, they realise their view of the system is different to some stakeholders, so this process allows them to improve their understanding of a key dynamic within the system. A helpful analogy for considering what level of detail you are aiming for is, are you aiming for a street map (highly detailed and granular) or a motorway map (key paths or stories) of your system? Rational Analysis for a Problematic World. We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver content from their services. The team then discuss what their goals for the system are, that is how they want the system to change from its current state to a future state that will produce their desired outcome. The outcomes from using these tools will lay the foundation for the next policy design stage of co-designing and testing interventions. Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Dashboard, Contact GSE@go-science.gov.uk for further information, Government Statistical Service (GSS) website, Adapted by DSTL from: Gareth Morgan. How often will you receive feedback on how the system is performing? Identify and map the elements of things within a system to understand how they interconnect, relate and act in a complex system, and from here, unique insights and discoveries can be used to develop interventions, shifts, or policy decisions that will dramatically change the system in the most effective way. This is demonstrated in the Net Zero Strategy systems map, where the relevant system is captured by showing qualitative factors, such as the publics concern for the environment, alongside quantitative factors, such as the cost of charging infrastructure. #74. Government Operational Researchers have a long history of using system thinking and I highly recommend the Systems Thinking Toolkit and Journey to assist others in approaching and structuring their problems. A systems leverage template is in Annex 1. I can probably apply other approaches to this problem. b. Mess: Coined by Ackoff in 1974, a mess is not just one problem, but a system of interrelated problems. Once you have brainstormed these enablers and inhibitors, take a step back and try to group similar enablers with each other, and group similar inhibitors. In order to build a new multidimensional thinking framework, we need to discover the dynamics and interconnectedness of the systems at play. Checkland, P. (2000). Identify the data sources required to assess each step in the ToC map. They also look for parts of the map that should be connected but arent and what problems this lack of connection creates. Like the ladder of inference, this tool helps people explain their thinking about why they made a decision. One type of information you can choose to include is to class the loop as balancing B or reinforcing R. On the right are statements typical of complex problems, on the left are statements typical of projects that may be complicated, but that are still likely to obey a linear cause and effect when it comes to making changes. We propose that this toolkit of system thinking has . Conceptually, people often find emergence a bit tricky to get their head around, but when you get it, your brain starts to form emergent outcomes from the disparate and often odd things you encounter in the world. Youve probably seen a number of systems thinking toolboxes online. -Dan Marx, "Has staying power and relevance beyond the first reading." Their toolkit includes their Systems Tools Matrix to help determine which tool would be of most use, and also includes a complete compilation of their guides to system mapping. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. The process also helps the team discover parts of the system that they had previously overlooked. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. It is posited that by focusing on non-obvious factors, practitioners can increase their odds of success. [.] Examples of where causal loop diagrams have helped to explain relationships across a system are in the Foresight Obesity map and the Net Zero Strategy. Routledge. The team want to model a part of the system so that they can better understand its dynamics, including how their model of the system will change over time or in response to different inputs. c. What are other stakeholders in the system doing in this area, including existing interventions? Barbrook-Johnson P, Penn A. Our suggestion here, and shown in figure 11 is, to use plus (+) or minus () signs on the arrow connecting 2 factors. It should be a significant step toward your long-term goal. 10, 119-140. Avison, D. E, Golder, P. A, Shah, H. U. In reinforcing loops, an abundance of one element can continually refine itself, which often leads to it taking over. In this example, the more births there are, the higher the population. ii. Kunc, M. (2018). Look for the deep structure that serves as the anchor point for most of the loops on your systems map. Humans need food, air, and water to sustain our bodies, and trees need carbon dioxide and sunlight to thrive. Relationships (direct and indirect) Interactions and influences. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". We have included prompts to help you think widely in the main text. Strategic Modelling and Business Dynamics, 2nd edn. What does it cause? Some questions you can try are: What resonates with you? It offers a unique approach to problem solving that views problems as part of an overall system. These documents introduce a small sample of systems thinking concepts and tools, chosen due to their accessibility and alignment to civil service policy development, but which is by no means comprehensive. #29. The water is the stock, and the flows are controlled by the faucet (in-flow) and drain (out-flow). Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. Growth and underinvestment (or self-created limits): Continued growth requires significant investment in longer-term capacity that may hurt current performance. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. Likewise, if the costs associated with electric vehicles decrease, the proportion of cars that are electric vehicles may increase. You can perform a pig model analysis on both the system as it currently is, or imagining the perspectives of the people in the system after you have performed an imagined change to the system (for example bringing in a new policy). The flows are arrow-headed pipes leading into or out of the stocks. System dynamics simulation model: A computerized model that quantifies relationships and can measure stock and flows, analyze feedback loops, and run scenarios. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Higher levels are more complex and have emergent behavior not present at lower levels. Means-end network: Usually created from a Fundamental Objectives Hierarchy, a means-end network is a way of organizing how objectives can be achieved. To get the most out of your collaborating community it is important to consider how to communicate your understanding of the system, and the data sets and evidence you have used to build this understanding (and the uncertainty and gaps in your understanding). To help us improve GOV.UK, wed like to know more about your visit today. 2011. This model will play a large role in how the team interact with stakeholders as the project progresses and help them spot areas of friction early on. Wicked problems: Introduced by C. West Churchman in 1967, a wicked problem is one where the information required to solve it depends on problem understanding. Figure 18: Diagram of inputs to creating the toolkit. Outputs What has been produced. My motivation for writing this online toolkit is to help expand the ability of professionals to rapidly adopt to a systems mindset for positive impact. Guidance on identifying criteria for success can be found in the HM Treasury Green Book: Multi-criteria analysis manual. Accidental adversaries: Two parties who may be working for the same goal, but inadvertently become enemies, hurting their individual and collective chance at success. I have an online class where I explain all of this here. 40 systems thinking enthusiasts, internal and external to government, who were not associated with the project but volunteered to review the toolkit. If you are happy with the model you have created, and have not done so yet, draw the model in a stock and flow software program such as those in Annex 3. For example, on our map, this core story is represented by these 2 dynamics. OPA has already provided its TPP grantees with a systems thinking foundation, which this toolkit builds upon. Monitoring Theories of Change Systems Thinking Context-driven adaptation PEA thinking and working . Posted 2017-10-25; filed under PKMastery.. Leyla Acaroglu has an excellent post on Tools for Systems Thinkers: The 6 Fundamental Concepts of Systems Thinking. Partners form the backbone of a strong community network. Double-Q (QQ) diagram: A modified fishbone diagram of cause and effect that separates hard (quantitative) variables from soft (qualitative) variables. They identify underlying assumptions for how a proposed solution or goal is linked to a problem via a set of actions, outputs and outcomes. Keywords: Complex adaptive systems, Complexity, Methods, Systems thinking, Theory, Tools. The course uses systems thinking to study the patterns of behavior we observe in real-world businesses, markets, economies, and supply chain interactions and how these patterns relate to the structure of the underlying systems. Systems thinking requires a shift in mindset, away from linear to circular. You can now use this knowledge to explore possible interventions to most effectively change your system to achieve your objective. systems thinking. When this analysis is done by constructing a computer simulation of the organization's behavior, it is called system dynamics. Systems thinking tools help make sense of situations that are complex and hard to understand. Finally, tools may be about helping others see the systems they are operating within. (Adapted from a consultation Impact Assessment on Heat Network Zoning policy (with thanks to by Emma Longhurst-Gent)).
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