Global Business Systemic Thinking vs Linear Thinking
The complexity of work, markets, and globalization are reaching a critical level and we need to, as business leaders depart from Linear Thinking to Business Systemic Thinking.
Global Business Systemic Thinking vs Linear Thinking – The growing complexity of our work, markets, and globalization requires us to adopt a business systemic perspective to understand the world around us. This will allow organizations to be more responsive, resilient, and innovative.
For many years we have been living in a world that is becoming increasingly complex. Businesses are facing new challenges every day and their ability to deal with them is being tested like never before. The complexity of our work and markets is reaching a critical level and we need to, as business leaders pay more attention to the broader or systemic thinking context.
In order to deal with this complexity, we need a different way of thinking about how we approach our work and markets. We need to move from linear thinking (one step at a time) toward a systemic perspective (looking at all parts together).
Business Systemic thinking is a way of understanding that examines the relationships between parts of a system, rather than looking at them separately. It helps us to see how different parts are connected and how they influence each other. When we apply systemic thinking in business, it can help us to discover new insights, opportunities, and possible solutions for our problems.
Why do we need systemic thinking in business?
We live in complex systems that are constantly changing. Businesses must deal with this complexity every day: markets can be volatile; people make decisions based on their emotions; competitors are always looking for new ways to disrupt your business model; governments change regulations at any moment; technology develops faster than ever before; etcetera. The list goes on and on…
To survive and thrive in this environment, businesses need a different approach than what they’ve been doing so far: they need to become more adaptive and innovative by embracing business systemic thinking as well as design thinking (imagine about Apple’s iPhone).
Systemic Thinking helps us deal with complex problems that are not easily fixed.
The word ‘system’ can be defined as a group of entities that work together to achieve an objective. When we look at things on a systemic level, we can see how they interact with each other and how they all fit together to form a whole.
Business systems thinking is a way of looking at the world that helps us understand complex problems, challenges, and opportunities. It’s about understanding the relationships between people, processes, and systems.
Systems thinking helps us to see connections between seemingly unrelated factors and events, so we can make better decisions in business and life.
A systemic perspective can help you:
Understand why things happen – so you don’t just react to problems but proactively anticipate them in advance.
Make better decisions – by seeing how different factors are connected and how they affect one another over time.
Systemic thinking vs linear thinking
Seeing our business as a system (systemic thinking) allows for the creative solution that a linear perspective does not at all. Business systemic thinking is a way of understanding and working with complex systems holistically. it means that the entire business is considered in its processes and policies, as opposed to focusing only on its individual components. It’s an approach that’s used by social scientists, biologists, economists, and other people who study things like ecosystems, economies, or human societies.
In contrast, linear thinking is seen and acts only from the perspective of specific parts, or individual-level thinking which doesn’t look at the interactions between parts
Systemic thinkers use their knowledge of the world to look at problems in a new way. They look at how events interact with each other and how they affect each other over time. Instead of seeing problems as isolated incidents or events, systemic thinkers understand them within the context of the whole system.
Systemic thinking is useful for people from all environments and experiences — from students to business leaders, from teachers to software developers — because it helps us understand problems better so that we can solve them in new ways.
A systemic perspective or vision is useful for people from all backgrounds. It can help you see the big picture, understand how things are connected to each other, and make better decisions based on that understanding.
Systems thinking allows you to answer questions like:
What’s the problem?
Why do we have this problem? (What are its causes?)
Why is this a problem? (What would happen if we didn’t have the problem?)
How can we solve it? (How can we prevent it from happening again?)
Why are you not applying business systemic thinking management in your companies?
Books of Prof. Aecio D’Silva