Systems Thinking Tools

Systems thinking, as opposed to analytical thinking, is an umbrella term for a variety of ideas about how to improve our ability to think in a non-linear world. Below, we have uploaded a number of tools that might be helpful. The tools are developed by Systems Innovation Links to an external site., and are shared here for your use.

If you want to read a short introduction to Systems thinking (or one version). Take a look here Download Take a look here.

 

Iceberg Canvas Working With Leverage Points Download Iceberg Canvas Working With Leverage Points - This canvas is designed to help you start to think about and map out the different levels of abstraction to the system you are dealing with - from the observable events to underlying patterns that generate these, to the supporting structure and ultimately the mental models used by an organization. We first map the existing system on these different levels and then progress to identify possible new models, structures, patterns, and events we wish to see in the future system.

A key element in the Iceberg Canvas is finding Leverage Points. This guide might be helpful: Leverage Point Guide Download Leverage Point Guide.

 

Network Analysis Canvas Download Network Analysis Canvas - This canvas is designed to aid us in the analysis and understanding of a given social network. We draw upon the basic concepts and models of network analysis to give an easy-to-use tool for analyzing any social network. Key questions we will try to answer include: who are the most important nodes in the network? What is the overall structure of the network, and how centralized or decentralized is it? How equally are the connections in the network distributed out, i.e., do some nodes have many connections while others have few? Finally, we try to understand how something may spread across the network. 

 

Systems Modeling Canvas Download Systems Modeling Canvas - This canvas is designed to help systems innovators model the system they are interested in changing. The model is very lightweight and distinctly non-analytical in nature. The aim of the exercise is not to attempt to get a detailed understanding of the system but rather a high-level general understanding of what we are dealing with as a system.

Systems Innovation has created a guide for Systems Modeling. It is not directly related to this canvas, but might be helpful. System Modeling Guide. Download System Modeling Guide.

 

Systems Gardening Canvas Download Systems Gardening Canvas - Systems gardening is an approach to influencing the development of a complex adaptive system and realizing systems change through working with context. The aim of the systems gardener is to create the context for the emergence of beneficial outcomes. This is done through the use of probing experiments that test where there is potential for the development of beneficial attractors.

 

Two Loops Canvas Download Two Loops Canvas - This canvas is designed to help people identify and think about their position in a system during a transition process based on the Two Loops model. It should also help them to recognize their interdependence with other members. The Two Loops model as a whole describes two "loops." The first of these is used to represent the growth and subsequent decline of the existing incumbent systems. The second loop is used to represent the new emerging next generation of this system.

You can find a short guide to this Canvas here. Two Loops Guide Download Two Loops Guide.

 

Reflexive Thinking Canvas Download Reflexive Thinking Canvas - Reflexive thinking is about becoming aware of how our thinking shapes what we see and do, and the world we create, which then feeds back to shape our thinking through an ongoing feedback loop. In this first exercise, we will fill in the different aspects of this dynamic to become better aware of them and the overall process.

 

Systems Change Canvas Download Systems Change Canvas - This canvas will help you think about the different aspects of a systems change process. The canvas is based on a prominent framework for modeling transition processes in complex adaptive systems, the Multi-level perspective. As per the MLP, the canvas is divided into three levels: the macro-level, representing the major environmental changes; the miso-level, representing the existing incumbent configurations in the systems and the transition process they will go through to give rise to the new system; and the micro-level representing the new innovations. Within the MLP, the canvas also integrates other prominent models from the field of systems change, including the Two loops model and Three horizons model.

 

The Three Horizon Download The Three Horizon model provides structure to aid our thinking about how transition processes evolve by looking at the driving forces of innovation, the decline of incumbent systems, and the emergence of new patterns of organization. This canvas is designed to help workshop participants think through these three horizons in the context of a systems change initiative.

You can find a guide for the Three Horizon Canvas here. This guide has a wider scope than the canvas but should be helpful. Horizon Guide Download Horizon Guide.