Systems Thinking

Systems thinking is a relatively new and unexplored field of interest that is immersed in the belief that components of a working system will behave and function differently when isolated from the system environment. Systems thinking implies looking at the elements of a problem as part of a whole system, where the properties of the whole arise from the relationships between the component parts. Moreover, it also involves a deeper look at and understanding of a system by examining and scrutinizing the linkages and interaction between comprising elements of the system. In short, systems thinking provides a magnified and systemic look at the connectivity between and interaction amongst elements in the situation, and allows for identification of ‘leverage points’, which can further help us point our efforts in the right direction so as to support constructive change and addressing problems by making a small change in one element of the system in order to produce big changes in the whole system.

                From an environmental standpoint, systems thinking is a novel way of thinking and managing the ‘natural’ as well as ‘people’ systems associated with complex problems in sustaining and enhancing the natural resources.[i] Addressing a sustainability problem is only the tip of the iceberg; systems thinking provides a contextual and holistic approach while dealing with sustainability problems. For instance, sustainable agricultural development, in rural areas of nations steeped in economic, political and social backwardness, was always was thought to be a single, linear process. Agricultural practice, the mainstay of most rural communities, were also perceived as linear approaches wherein human effort would produce agricultural products, such as food, feed, fibres, agro fuels and medicinal products. However, after a thorough analysis it was found that several non-commodity outputs such as environmental science, landscape amenities and cultural heritages were the product of agricultural activities. Hence, rural livelihoods were perceived as more complex than they were earlier thought to be. Not only did rural livelihoods exist to generate income, but also included the broader human objectives of assuring food security and health, providing a home, reducing vulnerability or susceptibility to economic, political and climatic shocks, and empowering rural folk to control their own destinies. In order to improve rural livelihoods, countries and organizations would need to consider agriculture as a systemic part within the broader context of developing and improving rural livelihoods through sustainable agricultural development.

A more holistic, realistic, participative, and integrative paradigm of dealing with sustainable development through the proactive introduction of interventions and leverage points at particular points in the system so as to effect change in the entire system is what the systems thinking method offers. It has been claimed: ecology and economy are becoming ever more interwoven – logically, rationally, nationally and globally – into a seamless net of causes and effects. Compartmentalized distribution of problems, within nations, sectors (energy, agriculture and trade) and other broad areas of concern (economic, political and social), is now dissolving. Silos of problems and crises, such as the environmental crisis, development crisis and energy crisis, are now merging into the bigger picture. In such a situation, it is imprudent to follow a one-track, limited and restrictive approach to solving and mitigating problems in systems that are dimensionally complex and challenging. Instead, by embracing all considerations and relationships in a complex system it becomes possible to produce better long-term solutions to current problems.

Abinav Vemuri