The Value of Systems Thinking

What if the best way out of our big health problems is to think our way out? The CDC seems to think so. Take a look at this video about systems thinking, one of the biggest paradigm shifts in thinking about healthcare.

There are some really good ideas in this video, but lets just start with the first: You can become less and less wrong, and this will give you high-leverage to bring the change you want to see. To illustrate this, a quadrant diagram was used:

The idea is the a systems thinking approach tries to get to the High Leverage quadrant where the change in behavior is huge, but the unintended consequences are few.

• Can you think of a real life example of each of these quadrants? Post some in the comments.

We use a similar tool to this type of quadrant called [3] David’s Bow. You can see the shape of it if you rotate the quadrant diagram 45 degrees. Also, we would generally flip the axis so the “push” or “alpha” side was up, like this:

If we add a few system elements, it becomes clear how these relate to the movement of the system. If we take it a step further, we can see how what kind of conditions in the system bring each quadrant about. For example, take a look at these four types of organizations illustrated through the parable of The Four Soils:

• Can you think of examples of people groups or events from the COVID 19 crisis that fit into this framework? You can think about it metaphorically, through the lens of the Four Soils, or use the quadrant. Post your thoughts in the comments.