Systems thinking means not getting tricked by the blame game

Systems thinking is a powerful mindset that can help shape your thoughts and actions throughout life. Instead of seeing one-off events, you see systems.

When I say systems, I don’t mean physical systems. Sure, there is a mechanical system that controls the temperature in my house. There is a physical system that is used to create your car. There is an engine system for your lawnmower.

No, everyone sees these systems. The next level is a little more difficult to spot but is still identified by most. There is a system for scientific research. Our bodily systems are defined by systems thinking terms. There are political systems that are in place. Weather systems show us how the weather changes and when.

The deepest level of systems is where the systems thinker lives. He or she sees the physical systems, and the systems that are not physical but have many physical and non-physical manifestations.

The deepest level sees everything through the systems lens. Seeing a young child crossing the street to catch the bus is part of many overlapping systems. Feeling tired after a big meal follows systems principles. Emotions, thoughts, habits, actions, all are systematic.

As you start to get deeper into the systems mindset, you start to realize just how integrated everything really is. Everything is connected. Everything follows various systems principles.

Just as a scientist sees an apple fall off the tree and sees it in the greater context around gravity and the laws of physics, systems thinkers see everything as part of many overlapping systems.

Instead of this becoming overwhelming or providing too much complexity to make sense, we start to understand. We understand why something unusual happened. We expected it to follow certain systems principles, but it was manipulated by other systems.

One shift that takes place is that we stop blaming one source for everything we dislike. We don’t see the criminal as the sole individual responsible, we see him as part of a system. Sure, he made choices and should be disciplined appropriately, but we see it in a larger context of crime, the criminal justice system, parenting, education, money etc.

This is beneficial because when a problem surfaces, we are less likely to try and find a scapegoat. We don’t find someone to point the finger at and then walk away, satisfied that we figured it all out.

Instead, we want to see how we can adjust the system to obtain a better outcome in the future. We don’t see the individual and stop, we dive into the full system.

Hans Rosling wrote a great book called Factfulness – Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think. While it isn’t a systems thinking book, he uses many systems thinking approaches to his arguments.

He discusses the blame game systematically. He says, “It seems that it comes very naturally for us to decide that when things go wrong, it must be because of some bad individual with bad intentions. We like to believe that things happen because someone wanted them to, that individuals have power and agency; otherwise, the world feels unpredictable, confusing, and frightening.”

He then goes on to say, “To understand most of the world’s significant problems we have to look beyond a guilty individual and to the system.”

The world is complex. There will always be someone to blame. Blame the president for the fact that you had to pay a lot of money at the gas pump. Blame the friend that moved away for your loneliness. Blame your boss for your stalled career. But none of those represent the full system.

If we stop at blame, we don’t improve. We give away the control we have in life and give it to others to determine what happens to us. To take control we have to stop blaming others and starting finding systematic ways to improve.