“Learning to think better by improving one’s thinking skills” can be defined as System Thinking. Individuals who are System Thinkers use the thinking process to analyze (consider and reflect) and synthesize (piece together) what they have learned or are currently learning. Sadly, a lot of the reasoning of everybody appears to be skewed, imprecise, vague, uninformed, and prejudiced. System Thinking is needed to improve its quality and value as this becomes severely restrictive.
System Thinking is necessary within the organizational setting for overcoming problems, making changes, modifications, or adaptations within work structures, methods, and situations solving problems solving situational conflicts and pressing issues, and inventing and implementing new ideas, techniques, and solutions.
The development of System Thinking is a gradual process. This requires: overcoming learning plateaus as well as maintaining a careful eye on the system itself, modifying personal thought patterns, which appear to be a long-range task and considerable time for progress.
It is important to recognize what does not include its basic elements or components in the System Thinking process. System Thinking is not accomplished by saying something without carefully thinking about it, by guessing what one thinks “should” be done, by memorizing material to analyze, discuss or examine, by doing something just because it has always been done, by believing something because it is what everyone else tends to believe, or by arguing about something when there is no evidence to support the argument.
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Attributes System Thinkers embody certain attributes, and these traits help to identify people as “deep thinkers,” distinguishing them from more traditional “ordinary thinkers.” System Thinkers tend to be self-disciplined, self-directed, self-monitored and self-correcting thinkers. They raise important or crucial questions and problems and then formulate them clearly and accurately. System Thinkers are gathering, compiling, analyzing and assessing relevant information. They come up with sound assumptions, conclusions, and ideas, while they are measured and tested against specific expectations and parameters. They also maintain an open mind within alternative thinking systems, while continuously recognizing and evaluating their assumptions and reasoning lines. Eventually, System Thinkers effectively communicate with others in looking for and finding answers to issues and problems.
There tend to be six phases of developmental thinking leading to the art of System Thinking being “mastered.” Through extensive practice and process applications, individuals can expect to begin to change their thinking habits and eventually change them. Each phase of progress is described below.
• Phase One: The Unenlightened Thinker-Individuals are generally unaware that there are significant issues within their current thinking patterns.
• Phase Two: The Confronted Thinker-Individuals are aware that existing problems within their thinking process are evident or apparent.
• Phase Three: Novice Thinker-individuals seek to facilitate changes to their thought, but without focusing on routine and reliable training.
• Phase Four: Proactive Thinker-Individuals recognize the importance of regular practice to develop their thoughts and strengthen it.
• Phase Five: The Developed Thinker-Individuals continue to develop according to the amount of practice provided to the system.
• Phase Six: Mastery Thinker-individuals become professional and articulate when critical, logical, and evaluative reasoning becomes second nature.
Individuals will progress through these stages only if they accept the fact that there are serious problems with their current processes and thought strategies and can accept the difficulty their reasoning brings to them and make it a point to begin regular practice to refine and strengthen the components and elements of System Thinking.
