Determining The Big Picture

<< previous page

Systems are always nested within larger systems, [9] all of which are connected in a universal way by inputs and outputs - things that affect the system and things affected by the system. [10]  The definition of an input or output depends on how the boundaries of a system are drawn - this is always a subjective choice that depends upon the person who is observing the system, so that no two people will completely agree on this matter.  Charles Handy made this point with an example about deciding the effectiveness of prisons: ‘It is not clear, for instance, how the outcome of a prison should be measured, partly because we haven’t made up our minds whether the purpose of prison is to punish, to deter, or to rehabilitate the inmates.’ [11]

Property asset management views accommodation as a sub-system that is linked to other sub-systems within the organisation - core and non-core activities - all of which are joined in some way to the outside world - customers, suppliers and other interested parties.  Making sense of this arrangement is not always easy because we are more used to focusing on the separate parts of a system, rather than standing back to see the bigger picture or working with multiple perspectives.  Systems thinking reveals this ‘big picture’.  It combines a practical approach to solving problems that is founded on proven theory, a set of tools and techniques to do this, and a language for communicating a shared understanding of the system. [12] Above all, systems thinking is about evaluating and learning from results - using this knowledge to act upon the system to improve performance.

next page>>