As a business major, team projects were a constant part of my academic journey, yet they always felt somewhat burdensome and stressful. Issues like uneven workloads, misunderstandings of instructions, confused task ownership, and delayed submissions happened continuously, disrupting not only our work progress but also the learning experience. Even after noticing these patterns, I kept focusing on solving each issue only after it surfaced. This approach fixed immediate problems, but nothing about the overall workflow improved. Eventually, I realized that we needed to change something more fundamental: the way we prevented these issues from arising in the first place. This insight led me to explore systems thinking to see what was really happening beneath the surface.
Systems thinking is a way to approach issues and organization by looking at them as holistic systems (Davies). All those project challenges seemed like separate problems, but they were, in fact, all interconnected. There was an issue loop that drove the team into further confusions and delays: misunderstanding instructions led to unclear tasks, which led to uneven workloads, which led to delays, which caused rushed fixes, which led to even more confusion. Without addressing the structure that produced this loop, we were stuck repeating the same problems.
Dan Heath, a bestselling author specializing in problem-solving and decision-making topics, explains systems thinking as going “upstream”. While downstream actions react to problems after they occur, upstream efforts aim to prevent them from happening at all. We all find downstream actions easier, because they are easier to spot, and are more tangible. But when we step back and work to reshape the system that creates the problems, we begin to understand the causal relationships and can break solutions into smaller action steps. For example, instead of scrambling to find someone to submit a project every time the deadline approaches, assigning one person to take care of all the submissions forms clarity, reduces stress, and strengthens the process (Heath 1-17).
Systems thinking is important to leadership because it reinforces a sense of agency. When you analyze a situation from a broader, systemic perspective, you gain confidence in identifying potential issues and preventing them before they affect the team. Leadership starts with yourself, so the sense of agency and the thought that you have control over the situation will build up the firm foundation for your leadership.
Every team project encounters challenges, both large and small, and reacting to them is never easy. With systems thinking, however, you can understand where problems originate and take incremental steps to prevent them. Systems thinking does not require dramatic organizational change. Sometimes it begins with something as simple as a shifting perspective, examining causal relationships, testing assumptions, and thinking through consequences. With just a small shift in how we approach team challenges, we can transform the way we collaborate.
Works Cited
Davies, Laurie. “What Is Systems Thinking?” University of Phoenix, University of Phoenix, 29 Apr. 2024, www.phoenix.edu/articles/business/what-is-systems-thinking.html.
Heath, Dan. Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems before They Happen. Avid Reader Press, 2020.
