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What Is Systems Thinking? - Definitions
Systems thinking has been defined within contexts such as business, government and education.   One common thread to the definitions across disciplines is a focus on a holistic, "big picture" view of how systems function, an ability to see beyond the details of the individual trees to see the forest as a whole. 

Two definitions of systems thinking that educators and students have used:

Definition 1:
“Systems thinking is a vantage point from which you see a whole, a web of relationships, rather than focusing only on the detail of any particular piece. Events are seen in the larger context of a pattern that is unfolding over time.”
isee systems, inc.
Definition 2:
Systems thinking is a worldview, a perspective of seeing and understanding systems as wholes rather than as collections of parts.  A whole is a web of interconnections that creates emerging patterns.
Graphic created by
Kettelkamp, Larry. Tricks of Eye and Mind: The Story of Optical Illusion. New York: William Morrow & Co Library, 1974.
Used with permission.
Animation created based on Kanizsa's triangle.

Click here to see Strategies and Tools for Developing a Systems Thinking Capacity.

Click here to see Habits of a Systems Thinker.

 

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