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UCL Centre for Systems Engineering

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Systems Thinking at UCLse

 

The Systems Thinking Perspective

We spend our lives interacting with all kinds of systems - often complex mixes of technology and people. How can we ensure they perform as effectively as possible? We can start by understanding them better but this is often easier said than done. This is where systems thinking approaches come in.

Instead of looking at the parts of the system each in isolation (a reductionist approach), systems thinking helps us understand the emergent behaviour that arises from the interactions between system elements. Even in a simple system there can be a number of subtle cause-and-effects that we have to manage if we want to change or improve things. Learning about systems thinking means learning about these behavioural properties and characteristics. It gives us a framework to help us make sense of complexity - to analyse the system, understand it better and to make changes that improve its effectiveness.

We have a number of courses running throughout the year that will enable you to develop your understanding of how to apply systems thinking techniques to problem solving. 

View available course dates