Systems Thinking Quotes

“[...] vision without systems thinking ends up painting lovely pictures of the future with no deep understanding of the forces that must be mastered to move from here to there.”
― Peter M. Senge, The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization

“If we want to solve problems effectively...we must keep in mind not only many features but also the influences among them. Complexity is the label we will give to the existence of many interdependent variables in a given system. The more variables and the greater their interdependence, the greater the system's complexity. Great complexity places high demands on a planner's capacity to gather information, integrate findings, and design effective actions. The links between the variables oblige us to attend to a great many features simultaneously, and that, concomitantly, makes it impossible for us to undertake only one action in a complex system.


A system of variables is "interrelated" if an action that affects or meant to affect one part of the system will also affect other parts of it. Interrelatedness guarantees that an action aimed at one variable will have side effects and long-term repercussions. A large number of variables will make it easy to overlook them.

We might think of complexity could be regarded as an objective attribute of systems. We might even think we could assign a numerical value to it, making it, for instance, the product of the number of features times the number of interrelationships. If a system had ten variables and five links between them, then its "complexity quotient", measured in this way would be fifty. If there are no links, its complexity quotient would be zero. Such attempts to measure the complexity of a system have in fact been made.

Complexity is not an objective factor but a subjective one. Supersignals reduce complexity, collapsing a number of features into one. Consequently, complexity must be understood in terms of a specific individual and his or her supply of supersignals. We learn supersignals from experience, and our supply can differ greatly from another individual's. Therefore there can be no objective measure of complexity.”
― Dietrich Dorner, The Logic of Failure: Recognizing and Avoiding Error in Complex Situations

“The art of questioning is to ignite innovative thinking; the science of questioning is to frame system thinking, with the progressive pursuit of better solutions.”
― Pearl Zhu, Leadership Master: Five Digital Trends to Leap Leadership Maturity

“We have minds that are equipped for certainty, linearity and short-term decisions, that must instead make long-term decisions in a non-linear, probabilistic world.”
― Paul Gibbons, The Science of Successful Organizational Change: How Leaders Set Strategy, Change Behavior, and Create an Agile Culture

“The living organism is maintained in a continuous exchange of components; metabolism a a basic characteristic of living systems. We have, as it were, a machine composed of fuel spending itself continually and yet maintaining itself. Such machines do not exist today.”
― Bertalanffy Ludwig Von

“The limits on a growing system may be temporary or permanent. The system may find ways to get around them for a short while or a long while, but eventually there must come some kind of accommodation, the system adjusting to the constraint, or the constraint to the system, or both to each other. In that accommodation come some interesting dynamics.

Whether the constraining balancing loops originate from a renewable or nonrenewable resource makes some difference, not in whether growth can continue forever, but in how growth is likely to end.”
― Donella H. Meadows, Thinking In Systems: A Primer

“[...] most of the problems faced by humankind concerns [concerned] our inability to grasp and manage the increasingly complex systems of our world.”
― Peter M. Senge

“In Systems Thinking, the true wisdom often comes from a willingness to let go of past learning.”
― Pearl Zhu, Digital Valley: Five Pearls of Wisdom to Make Profound Influence

“In a broader sense, Systems Thinking is a path to greater awareness.”
― Pearl Zhu, Digital Valley: Five Pearls of Wisdom to Make Profound Influence

“Systems Thinking provides the more holistic way to view the problems”
― Pearl Zhu, Digital Valley: Five Pearls of Wisdom to Make Profound Influence

“Systems Thinkers shape a worldview based on the realization of interconnectedness.”
― Pearl Zhu, Digital Valley: Five Pearls of Wisdom to Make Profound Influence