--- title: "Systems thinking" source: "https://systems-analysis.info/eng/Systems_thinking" wiki: "systems-analysis.info/eng" article: "Systems_thinking" language: "en" categories: - "Category:English" - "Category:Science" - "Category:Systems approach" revision_id: 410 wiki_created_at: 2026-09-06T22:23:11Z wiki_modified_at: 2026-09-06T22:23:11Z downloaded_at: 2026-09-07T22:23:13Z --- # Systems thinking **Systems thinking** is a holistic approach to analyzing and solving complex problems, based on viewing an object as a [system](https://systems-analysis.info/eng/System "System")—an ordered complex of interconnected elements that interact with each other and with the environment within a single, integrated context. ## Definition Systems thinking is the ability to model and understand not the individual parts, but their interconnections and dynamics within a holistic [structure](https://systems-analysis.info/eng/System_structure "System structure"), to account for emergent properties, and to predict the consequences of changes. ## Theoretical Foundations - General Systems Theory (L. von Bertalanffy) – a metatheory that identifies universal laws of system functioning and their hierarchy.[\[1\]](https://systems-analysis.info/eng/Systems_thinking#cite_note-1) - Cybernetics (N. Wiener) – the science of feedback and self-regulation in systems, which introduced the concept of homeostasis. - The Law of Requisite Variety (W. R. Ashby) – a system can manage external disturbances only if it has an equal or greater variety of internal states. - System Dynamics (J. Forrester) – the modeling of stocks and flows, taking into account delays and feedback loops. - Soft Systems Methodology (P. Checkland) – an approach to analyzing social and organizational problems through stakeholder involvement and modeling the problem situation. - Logical-methodological aspects (V. N. Sadovsky) – formalization of system characteristics: connections, indivisibility of elements, interaction with the external environment, and the preservation of structure over time. ## Key Principles 1. Holism – a system is more than the sum of its parts; emergent properties cannot be derived from its components. 2. [Hierarchy](https://systems-analysis.info/eng/Hierarchy "Hierarchy") – any system is composed of subsystems and is part of a larger supersystem. 3. Feedback – loops through which a system's output influences its input. 4. Dynamics and Delays – accounting for time lags and the accumulation of effects. 5. [Adaptability](https://systems-analysis.info/eng/System_adaptability "System adaptability") and [Homeostasis](https://systems-analysis.info/eng/Homeostasis "Homeostasis") – the ability to self-regulate and restore equilibrium. 6. [Emergence](https://systems-analysis.info/eng/Emergence "Emergence") – the appearance of new properties in a system that are not present in its individual elements. ## History 1. 1940–1960: Works by L. von Bertalanffy (General Systems Theory), N. Wiener (cybernetics), W. R. Ashby (Law of Requisite Variety). 2. 1961: J. Forrester laid the foundations of system dynamics for industrial and economic processes. 3. 1970–1972: V. N. Sadovsky formalized the characteristics of a "system" and investigated the methodological paradoxes of the systems approach. 4. 1980s–1990s: Development of Soft Systems Methodology (Checkland), with widespread application in management and IT. ## System-Thought-Activity Approach (MMK) The development of systems thinking in the USSR is associated with the Moscow Methodological Circle (MMK), led by G. P. Shchedrovitsky. He proposed the System-Thought-Activity Methodology (SMD), in which thinking and activity are viewed as inseparable systemic processes. Key ideas include: - The system as an integrating principle of methodology, encompassing all forms of thought and activity. - Activity as a self-contained system – system analysis is conducted through the lens of projects and exercises (OD-games) to develop collective thinking. - Reflection and design – systems thinking includes the conscious management of one's own thoughts and the generation of new knowledge through a technology of thinking. ### Contributions of Key MMK Participants - G. P. Shchedrovitsky – developed the concept of dividing a system into layers (processes, structure, organization, morphology) and the methodology of OD-games for practicing systems thinking.[\[2\]](https://systems-analysis.info/eng/Systems_thinking#cite_note-2)[\[3\]](https://systems-analysis.info/eng/Systems_thinking#cite_note-3) - E. G. Yudin – formulated the philosophical foundations of systemicity, identified activity as a universal explanatory category, and established criteria for systems analysis. - V. A. Lefebvre – contributed the idea of reflection and the modeling of thinking subjects (logic of reflexive games). - I. V. Blauberg – substantiated the general theoretical principles of the systems approach in joint works with Yudin and Sadovsky. ## External links - Systems thinking — Wikipedia ## See also - [Systems approach](https://systems-analysis.info/eng/Systems_approach "Systems approach") - [Systems analysis](https://systems-analysis.info/eng/Systems_analysis "Systems analysis") - [System structure](https://systems-analysis.info/eng/System_structure "System structure") - [System dynamics](https://systems-analysis.info/eng/System_dynamics "System dynamics") - [Emergence](https://systems-analysis.info/eng/Emergence "Emergence") - [Systems holism](https://systems-analysis.info/eng/Systems_holism "Systems holism") ## Literature - Bertalanffy, L. von. *General System Theory*. — Moscow: Progress, 1979. - Sadovsky, V. N. *Foundations of General Systems Theory*. — Moscow: Nauka, 1974. - Blauberg, I. V., Yudin, E. G. *The Formation and Essence of the Systems Approach*. — Moscow: Nauka, 1973. - Wiener, N. *Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine*. — Moscow: Mir, 1965. - Forrester, J. *The Logic of Change*. — Moscow: Nauka, 1969. - Sadovsky, V. N. *Logical-Methodological Analysis of General Systems Theories*. — Moscow: Nauka, 1972. - Checkland, P. *Soft Systems Methodology*. — Leningrad: Politekhnika, 1981. - Volkova, V. N., Voronkov, V. A., Denisov, A. A. *Systems Theory and Methods of Systems Analysis in Management and Communication*. — Moscow: Radio i svyaz, 1983. - Peregudov, F. I., Tarasenko, F. P. *Introduction to Systems Analysis*. — Moscow: Vysshaya shkola, 1989. - Shchedrovitsky, G. P. *Problems of the Methodology of Systems Research*. — Moscow: Nauka, 1969. - Yudin, E. G. *Systemicity and Activity*. — Moscow: Progress, 1974. ## References 1. [↑](https://systems-analysis.info/eng/Systems_thinking#cite_ref-1) "Systems thinking plays a leading role in a wide range of human activities—from industrial enterprises and weaponry to the esoteric topics of pure science." — L. von Bertalanffy 2. [↑](https://systems-analysis.info/eng/Systems_thinking#cite_ref-2) "The systems approach turns out to be a form of methodological thinking aimed at organizing collective forms of action." — G. P. Shchedrovitsky, Yearbook 1975, p. 184. *(The systems approach as a form of thinking for organizing action)* 3. [↑](https://systems-analysis.info/eng/Systems_thinking#cite_ref-3) "We must construct a system not as an object of nature, but as a system of activity—an artificial one, created according to a plan and design." — G. P. Shchedrovitsky, Yearbook 1975, p. 183.