Big challenges don’t reflect simple cause-and-effect relationships. Instead they involve many elements interacting in mutually reinforcing ways. They’re complex, and this can make it tough to find real solutions.

Synergos’ John Tomlinson talks about systems thinking - a set of methods and tools that allows us to focus on the whole system in which a problem exists - instead of just the small pieces that we see from our own perspective.

Systems thinking is element of Synergos’ bridging leadership approach. Bridging leadership is a style of leadership practiced by both individuals and organizations to build trust for collective action.

Transcript

Big challenges don’t reflect simple cause-and-effect relationships. Instead they involve many elements interacting in mutually reinforcing ways. They’re complex, and this can make it tough to find real solutions.

Most social and environmental problems work this way, as do challenges in the business world, in government, and even inside organizations.

Hi, I’m John Tomlinson of Synergos, a global organization that helps solve complex issues around the world by advancing leadership which builds trust and collective action.

We call it “bridging leadership.”

A key element of bridging leadership is systems thinking - a set of methods and tools that allows us to focus on the whole system in which a problem exists - instead of just the small pieces that we see from our own perspective.

If we use the analogy of the blind men or women and the elephant, each person put next to a different part of the animal will describe it in a wildly different way. One next to the elephant’s leg feels a tree. Another by the trunk feels a snake, and still another touches the tusk and feels a spear.

Only when taken together can the diverse perspectives start to form a complete view.

So seeing the whole often involves bringing in the diverse perspectives of others and really trying to see the issue from their points of view.

It involves not just what we can see easily, but deeper structures.

People often look at single events or symptoms, but in systems thinking we go beyond that, starting with looking for patterns.

Going even deeper, we learn to identify the structures or relationships within a system.

The analogy of the iceberg is helpful here. The outcomes we see are the visible tip, with underlying structures hidden from view.

In systems thinking, we aim to identify two aspects of the structure of most systems.

The first is what we call artifacts - the tangible elements of the system such as rules, policies, or programs, that point back to the rationale for the system as it currently exists.

The second is mental models - non-visible elements such a paradigms, habits we or others might have, or power dynamics between the various actors in the system.

As we start to comprehend the structure of a system, we can look to cause and-effect relationships within it. We can spot where unanticipated consequences emerge, and identify leverage points for action.

Let me give an example of systems thinking in action from our experience, in Namibia where child and maternal mortality was at unacceptable levels. Synergos worked with people within the health system to uncover underlying reasons for this.

In Khomas region in central Namibia, one factor was that ambulance service was often poor - in one district it took an average of two hours for ambulances to bring women in!

Together we found that a big cause of those delays was a lack of transportation to hospitals in general, which led to ambulances being used like taxis in non-emergencies.

Once this cause was uncovered, the government responded by allocating vans for non-emergency situations, freeing up ambulances and saving lives. In one area, average response times were reduced by 75%!

Finding this underlying cause required a widening of scope beyond the obvious perspectives, such as those of doctors or government officials, who may not have thought to look at factors outside the walls of the hospital.

Systems thinking helps bridging leaders resist the temptation to diagnose a problem too quickly or assign blame.

If we jump to act or point fingers without first taking time to see the whole picture, we risk missing deeper causes.

And just as important, we miss the opportunity to involve all the other crucial stakeholders needed to not only reveal holistic solutions, but to build the level of buy-in needed to give them their best chances of success.