April 2023 "Mini-PDD" - Understanding Systems Thinking Methodology by Michael D. Ford

The Spot Restaurant

 

“Understanding Systems Thinking Methodology”

Michael D. Ford, TQM Works Consulting

M.S.I.S.E., CFPIM, CSCP, CLTD, CQA, CRE, CQE, ACPF, CPSM, CSSGB

8:00am – 12:30pm, Friday 14^th April 2023

The Spot Restaurant, Binghamton NY

                            source: 123rf.com

Systems thinking provides a strategic advantage to business organizations, both profit and nonprofit. It can also facilitate success in our personal lives. A valid concern is that systems thinking is not generally taught within the framework of most K-12 educational programs, nor is it a common subject in most college degree programs. To be sure, it is often discouraged. There is a very real, yet illegitimate reason for this: systems thinking is perceived as a threat to the system components! (e.g., status quo, persons, policies, etc.)

Join this highly interactive session to accomplish the following learning objectives:

• Define systems thinking methodology and common terms
• Identify system design elements
• Apply systems thinking to professional and personal life examples

The facilitator will additionally challenge the audience to recognize three fundamental concepts:

• We all have bias.
• The first step to learning is unlearning the wrongs we have been taught.
• Skepticism is a healthy attribute; cynicism is not.

The facilitator will utilize a variety of learning tools and techniques, to include: slideshow presentation; roundtable discussion; individual and team exercises; breakouts; Q&A sessions; and final summary.

Keywords: bias, system, systems thinking

Bias – prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair. (source: Oxford)

System – a set of things working together as parts of a mechanism or an interconnecting network. (Oxford)

Systems Thinking – a way of making sense of the complexity of the world by looking at it in terms of wholes and relationships rather than by splitting it down into its parts. (wikipedia)