ALED 342/ALEC 609 INFO• 4/09 LEARNING COMM REFLECTION DUE• 4/21 APP 4 DUE• 4/21 LEADER “E” EVAL DUE

• EXAM #2 – Add Part 1 points + Part 2 points + Part 3 points = your score out

of 250 points possible– Class average = 84%

Systems Thinking

ALED 342/ALEC 609Dr. Chris Townsend

Texas A&M University

Systems Thinking:Formal Definition

• A way of thinking about and a language for describing and understanding the forces and interrelationship that shape the behavior of systems. This discipline helps change organizations in relation to the forces within and surrounding the organization.

• WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?????????

Systems Thinking: How your actions shape current reality

• A framework, a blue print

• A way to enhance quality of thinking and decision-making

A recipe is a framework to enhance qualityChocolate chip/oatmeal cookies

– ¼ C butter– ¾ C “crisco”– 2 eggs– ¾ C brown sugar– ¾ C sugar

– 1 ½ C flour– 1 t baking soda– 1 t salt– 2 t water– 1 t vanilla– ½ bag chips– 1 C oats

What happens if you forget the sugar?

Systems Thinking: How your actions shape current reality

• See the “whole” organization• See the interrelationships• Distinguish important data & complex

patterns that affect outcomes

Systems Thinking Analysis StepsAPPLICATION 4

• LINKS: arrows that represent influence from one element to another

• Links show cause and effect

Cause Effect

Links Made Simple:

• Draw how an event influences another part of the system

Number of Students Class Size

“Loops”

1. Links are connected2. Connection is a circle3. Circle demonstrates “causality”4. Events can be both cause and

effect

LINKS to LOOPS

• Draw events within a system• Turn LINK into a circle

• Use arrows to show how each event influences the next one

Number of Students Class Size

LOOPS made simple:

• Now “read” what the loop says:• First ½ : When more students are admitted, classes get

larger

• Second ½: When classes get larger, more students are admitted

• So, what happens to the SYSTEM? The cause/effect continues…over and over again

Number of Students Class Size

“CAUSAL” LOOPS

• Add more detail to indicate type of INFLUENCE

• Add an “O” to indicate OPPOSITE effect• Add an “S” to indicate SAME effect

Number of Students

Class size

CREATE A CAUSAL LOOP

• When student #’s go UP, class size goes UP (S)• When class size goes UP, student #’s go DOWN (O)

Students Class size

S

O

“variable”“variable”

Corn Production

Market Price

S

O

Causal Loop:Telling your story with a diagram

Layoffs

Employee ConfidencePerformance

Anxiety

O

O

O

O

Causal Loop Interpretation:

What does it say?

“variable”

“O=opposite influence”

Layoffs

Employee ConfidencePerformance

Anxiety

O

O

O

O

Causal Loop:Telling your story with a diagram

Consumer Demand for Organic Food

New Products

Cost to Consumer

Production

O

S

S

O

Causal Loop:Telling your story with a diagram

Market Price

S

2 Types of Loops

•Balancing

•Reinforcing

Reinforcing Loops

• Generate exponential growth or great collapse

• Influences go “up,” means things are great• Influences go “down,” means a vicious

downward cycle

Balancing Loops

• Influences are be self-correcting

• Organization does not “spin” out of control• Stops a run away downward reinforcing

loop

Determining Balancing vs. Reinforcing

• Balancing = odd # of O’s

• Reinforcing = no O’s or even # O’s

• COUNT THEM & SEE IF IT WORKS!

Corn Production

Market Price

S

O

Causal Loop:Telling your story with a diagram

B

Layoffs

Employee ConfidencePerformance

Anxiety

O

O

O

O

R

Learning Reinforcement

• In your Learning Community, diagram an organizational situation with a causal loop – Create a causal loop– Must have at least 4 variables– Label the influences ( O or S)– Label as a “B” Balancing or “R” Reinforcing Loop– Post on the wall when you are complete– View other LCs’ loops

• Complete Application #4 DUE 4/21/08