SYSTEMS THINKING

A SYSTEM

 A system is an interconnected set of elements that is coherently organized in a way that

achieves something.
 An assemblage of things or parts interacting in a coordinated way
• Elements
• Interconnections
• A function or purpose
• Parts of system affect the system and are affected by it
• The assemblage of parts does something; it serves a purpose or a goal.
• The assemblage is of particular interest. (eye of the beholder)
The elements of the digestive system include:
• Teeth
• Enzymes
• Stomach
• Intestines
They are interrelated through the physical flow of food and a set of chemical signals.
The function of this system is to break down food into its basic nutrients and to transfer those
nutrients into the bloodstream (another system), while discarding unusable wastes.
• Examples:
A Football team
• Players
• Coach
• Field
• Ball
• Interconnections: Rules of the game, the coach’s strategy, the player’s communications, the laws of physics
that govern the motions of ball and players.
• The purpose of the team is to win games, have fun, get exercise…
• A school
• A city
• A factory
• A corporation
• A national economy
• A tree is a system
• A forest is a larger system that encompasses subsystems of trees and animals

• Earth is a system
• Solar system is a system
• Galaxy is a system
• Systems can be embedded in other systems which can be embedded in yet other systems.
• A system is more than the sum of its parts
• It may exhibit adaptive, dynamic, goal-seeking, self-preserving, and sometimes evolutionary
behavior.
Is it a system?
• Can you identify parts? and
• Do the parts affect each other? and
• Do the parts together produce an effect that is different from the effect of each part on
its own? and
• Perhaps
• Does the effect, the behavior over time, persist in a variety of circumstances?
• Many of the interconnections in systems operate through the flow of information.
Information holds systems together and plays a great role in determining how they
operate.
• Systems thinking is a particular way of viewing the world, its key feature being a focus on
“the big picture – the whole system or organism” rather than just the parts of the
system.
• System thinkers also look at the parts and try to understand the relationships among
them, but they always step back to see how the parts fit into the whole.
• Project managers are concerned with the big picture - the whole project with its goals,
work tasks, and the people involved; they must be system thinkers.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
• Human made systems are designed to do
something. They have goals and objectives
that are conceived by people.
• Goal is defined as a broad, all
encompassing statement of the purpose of
a system. An objective is a more detailed,
usually quantifiable statement of purpose
pertaining to some aspect of the system.
The system goal is met by achieving a
group of system objectives.
• A project can be conceived as a system
that exists for the purpose of creating a
human made system.
• Starting with the goal, the project can be
defined in terms of many objectives. The
objectives can be broken down into more
detailed, specific objectives called
requirements.
ELEMENTS AND SUBSYSTEMS

• Any system can be broken down into • In a project, an element could be a unit
smaller parts. These parts in combination of work, a person or group doing the
form the assemblage of parts that work, or a component of the end-item
constitutes the system. being produced by the project.
• The smallest part of the system is an
element.
• A system can also be broken down into
parts that are themselves systems, called
subsystems.
ATTRIBUTES

• Systems, subsystems, and elements all • In a project, time and cost are universal
have distinguishing characteristics called attributes of most of its elements, and
attributes. they are tracked to assess the project’s
• These describe the conditions of the performance.
systems, subsystems, and the elements in
qualitative and quantitative terms.
• In human made systems, the attributes
are designed into the system so that the
system will perform as required.
ENVIRONMENT AND BOUNDARY

• Environment refers to anything outside the system • For a project, environment refers to the relevant
that influences the behavior or outcome of the environment – factors that matter to and affect
system. the system in some way.
• A system is separated from its environment by a
boundary.
• To determine what the environment is:
• Can system designers or managers control it?
• Is it relevant to the system and its objectives?
• If the answer is ‘no’ to the first question, but ‘yes’
to the second question then it is part of the
environment.
SYSTEM STRUCTURE

• Elements and subsystems are linked • A project is a hierarchical structure with

together by relationships. The form taken a hierarchy of tasks and responsibilities.
by the relationships is referred to as the
• The structure is called the work
structure of the system.
breakdown structure.
• The functioning and effectiveness of a
system is largely determined by the
appropriateness of the structure to the
system’s objective or purpose.
• Input, process, and output.
• Constraints and conflicts:
• All systems have constraints or limitations that inhibit their ability to reach goals and
objectives.
• Often the constraints are imposed by the environment.
• Time and money are two universal constraints in projects.
• In human-made systems, and especially in projects, the objectives of the subsystems are
sometimes in conflict.
• Removing conflict from objectives to enable meeting the goal of the overall system is called
integration.
INTEGRATION

• For a system to achieve its goal, all of its elements must work in unison. Designing,
implementing, and operating a system that achieves its pre-specified objectives and
requirements through the coordinated functioning of its elements and subsystems is
called system integration.
• Project management seeks to integrate tasks and resources to achieve project goals.
SYSTEMS APPROACH

• It is a methodology for solving problems and managing systems. It is holistic in nature. It avoids tackling
problems narrowly, and tries to look at the situation from all angles.
• This is done keeping in mind the following system concepts:
 The goals and objectives of the system
 The environment of the system
 The resources and constraints of the system
 The elements of the system, their functions, attributes, and performance measures
 The interface and interaction among the elements
 The management of the system