Systems Thinking

[desiderata]

Does anyone have any experience with "Systems Thinking"?
Are there good resources out there to explore?

 

[Daniel E.]

Are you interested in it for family dynamics, intrapersonal dynamics (like dealing with multiple internal "selves"/schemas), work environments, etc?

For intrapersonal dynamics, I bought a self-help book a few years ago on the subject:

Self-Therapy: A Step-By-Step Guide to Creating Wholeness and Healing Your Inner Child Using IFS, A New, Cutting-Edge Psychotherapy, 2nd Edition

Understand your psyche in a clear and comprehensive way, and resolve deep-seated emotional issues. Self-Therapy makes the power of a cutting-edge psychotherapy approach accessible to everyone. Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS) has been spreading rapidly across the country in the past decade. It is incredibly effective on a wide variety of life issues, such as self-esteem, procrastination, depression, and relationship issues. IFS is also user-friendly; it helps you to comprehend the complexity of your psyche. Dr. Earley shows how IFS is a complete method for psychological healing that you can use on your own.

Self-Therapy is also helpful for therapists because it presents the IFS model in such detail that it is a manual for the method.

From what I remember, the book was just alright since it was overly simplistic and had a "new age" vibe to it.

So a better author may be Richard Schwartz, who developed the therapy called Internal Family Systems (IFS) and wrote this article:

Our Multiple Selves: Applying Systems Thinking to the Inner Family

Personally, I first heard about systems theory from software engineering since I don't know as much about family systems theory, etc. (There is also a potentially-related topic in sociology called "social spaces" that relates to social environments and how they affect cognition, emotion, etc. and how they elicit different sub-personalities/schemas.)

 

[Daniel E.]

On the more general/business/organizational side of things:

Donella Meadows:

Thinking in Systems: A Primer



A Philosophical Look at System Dynamics - YouTube


Peter Senge:




Peter Senge Introduction to Systems Thinking - YouTube

Peter Senge - Wikipedia

The Fifth Discipline - Wikipedia


Others:

 

[Daniel E.]

I remember we used some form of systems thinking when I worked in a group home. It is easier not to judge others if you see issues as a "we" situation.

Similarly:

Navigating a Relational System | Christopher Habben, PhD | TEDxOverlandPark - YouTube

Systems thinking, when applied to relationships, serves as the foundation for the field of marriage and family therapy. Dr. Christopher Habben's powerful yet humble story telling style in this TEDx talk reflects the simple truth that we can only understand ourselves in relation to others.

Christopher Habben is a Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy at Friends University in Kansas City and is the Program Director of the Friends University Master of Science in Family Therapy program in Kanas City. Dr. Habben is a member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) as a Clinical Fellow, is an AAMFT Approved Supervisor and has been licensed for over 15 years in Kansas as a Licensed Clinical Marriage and Family Therapist. Dr. Habben’s clinical practice has endeavored primarily to assist couples in relational distress. Dr. Habben is a former President of the Kansas Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and he has received various teaching and professional service awards.

 

[Daniel E.]

And, of course, systems thinking/theory reminds me a lot of mindfulness or Asian philosophy (Buddhism, Taoism, etc) where everything is interconnected, egos are illusions (e.g. Thoughts without a Thinker), and the only constant is change.

(PDF) A Dynamic Systems Approach to Understanding Mindfulness in Interpersonal Relationships

 

[David Baxter PhD]

I read the original Thoughts Without A Thinker: Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective by Mark Epstein years ago (the original 1995 edition had a forward by the Dalai Lama).

Great book. It influenced the way I thought about therapy and especially about CBT, along with Zindal Siegel's Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression.

 

[desiderata]

I did read an article from the "The System Thinker" which dealt with blame and accountability. Here is an excerpt:

Where there is blame, there is no learning. Where there is blame, open minds close, inquiry tends to cease, and the desire to understand the whole system diminishes. When people work in an atmosphere of blame, they naturally cover up their errors and hide their real concerns. And when energy goes into finger pointing, scapegoating, and denying responsibility, productivity suffers because the organization lacks information about the real state of affairs. It’s impossible to make good decisions with poor information.

 

[flethybob]

Interesting thread. I will probably read more about Systems Thinking