Systems Thinking 101 from Benedictine International School

When it comes to education, it is nowadays essential to familiarize with the concept of systems thinking. Systems thinking involves concepts surrounding strategic thinking, critical thinking, solutions thinking, future and forward thinking, long-term thinking, and high level thinking. It is not analytic thinking, which is tactical, mechanistic, reductionist, and either/or thinking, one-best-method. This is when we engage in the concept of systems thinking when it comes to education.

Systems Thinking focuses on relationships, multiple outcomes, holism and boundaries, the environment, the larger system, and feedback. Strategic Thinking is about clarity and simplicity, meaning and purpose, focus and direction, relationships and feedback, and desired outcomes.

They are the same thought process.

Despite being referred to differently, depending on the context, Systems Thinking and Strategic Thinking are fundamentally the same concept, only applied in different circumstances.  It is a heuristics-based mindset, exactly what’s needed more of in today’s business environment.

As above mentioned by author Chris Hoeller, he further elaborates on systems thinking through the use of Senge’s 11 Laws of Systems Thinking. Because today’s problems come from yesterday’s solutions. Leaders are happy to solve problems, but don’t always think about intended and unintended consequences. Too often, our solutions strike back to create new problems. Which makes a proper choice of institution one that breeds tomorrow’s leaders.

Humans have a stubborn tendency to bully our way through tough situations when things are not working out as we would hope. We charge ahead without taking time to think through solutions to find better alternatives. Sometimes we solve problems; more often, especially in the current environment, we find ourselves up to our ears in more problems. This explains why it is essential to select the best institution that incorporates systems thinking. Primarily because behavior grows better before it grows worse as it is carefully molded as children grow older. Short-term solutions give temporary improvement at best but never eliminate fundamental issues and problems. These underlying problems will make the situation worse in the long run.

Leaders often have a few quick fixes in their “quiver” of solutions that have brought quick and easy success in the past. Too often, the easy way out is retrofitting these fixes to any situation without regard to the unique contexts, people and timing. This often times occurs when the easy and familiar solution is not only ineffective but addictive and dangerous. It might even induce dependency. As Chris Hoeller continues to state, he says that faster becomes slower. At the first taste of success, it is tempting to advance at full speed without caution. Remember that the optimal rate of growth or change is far slower than the fastest growth or change that is possible.

At the onset, Systems Thinking is probably the most complicated term you could possibly hear when you decide to enroll your child in a school or in a learning institution; however, it is a transformational experience that allows your child to reach his fullest potential in an environment that is in constant growth and fluctuation.
Simply, systems thinking is the best experience you can give your child through education at the Benedictine International School (BIS). At BIS, systems thinking is incorporated into the child’s educational experience and the parents’ experience of their child’s development as leaders of the future.

Seriously get involved in your child’s education by knowing new approaches like the Systems Thinking. Call Benedictine International School at +632.951.8960 / 951.7154 / 951.7454 and learn more about how you can help your child be successful in all avenues of life. You may also visit the school website at www.benedictine.edu.ph or its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BISphilippines.
Benedictine International School is located at Capitol Hills Drive, Diliman, Quezon City.