Systems that think as they do in modern times have been around for approximately 60 years but have only had a relatively large audience among non-scientists within the last decade or so. Thinking structures is a way to look at things, individuals, and organizations worldwide. It consists of a set of principles and methods that together give system-thinkers a new, potentially expanding world-view rather than a series of static methodologies or theories.
In some way, structures don’t exist in the world objectively and rely instead on the human observer seeing entities or processes as structures. However, it can be very helpful to consider events in the world as structures and make sense of their behavior. Thinkers of structures prefer to consider the environment as a series of ongoing interactions, changes, and processes. Systems analysis, in a way, complements the very useful view offered by mainstream reductionist science.
People who are self-described system thinkers use a vibrant science and non-scientific literature base. This base consists of the theories, processes, and philosophies of systems. Systems thinking can extend to almost any field, including businesses, computers, social organizations, the human mind, and computer systems, which we want to understand better.
