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This paper proposes a complete set of systems thinking skills for use across many different disciplines. The paper places particular emphasis on the ability to assess each of the skills quantitatively, a comprehensible description of the skills, and the completeness of the set. The proposed skills were derived from a review of the literature, the application of systems thinking experience, and the application of systems thinking to itself. Several different sets of systems thinking skills can be found throughout the systems community, but common key concepts can be distilled from these sets. When combinations of these concepts are considered separately, holistically, and together as a system, a single, cohesive set of skills emerges. Systems thinking is widely believed to be of critical importance across many different fields; it has been said that skillful use of systems thinking skills could have prevented such disasters as World War II, the Great Depression, and the Challenger space shuttle disaster, as well as lessened or avoided the effects of many major environmental disasters. At the opposite send of the spectrum, systems thinking can be used to enhance health care, improve the economy, improve technology, laws, international and interpersonal relationships, schools, organizations, and so much more. However, this very useful skill set still lingers outside mainstream education. To address this problem, a set of assessable, comprehensible systems thinking skills is required. Such skills are defined, described, and detailed in this paper.

This paper proposes a complete set of systems thinking skills for use across many different disciplines. The paper places particular emphasis on the ability to assess each of the skills quantitatively, a comprehensible description of the skills, and the completeness of the set. The proposed skills derive from a review of the literature, the application of systems thinking experience, and the application of systems thinking to itself. Several different sets of systems thinking skills exist throughout the systems community, but common key concepts distill from these sets. When we consider combinations of these concepts separately, holistically, and together as a system, a single, cohesive set of skills emerges. Systems thinking is widely believed to be of critical importance across many different fields; some say that skillful use of systems thinking skills could have prevented such disasters as World War II, the Great Depression, and the Challenger space shuttle disaster, as well as lessened or avoided the effects of many major environmental disasters. At the opposite send of the spectrum, systems thinking can enhance health care, improve the economy, improve technology, laws, international and interpersonal relationships, schools, organizations, and so much more. However, this very useful skill set still lingers outside mainstream education. To address this problem requires a set of assessable, comprehensible systems thinking skills. This paper defines, describes, and details such skills.

No abstract

Traditional systems engineering is predicated upon prediction and control. Prediction is required to attain some degree of confidence that design and manufacture decisions will yield desired results. Control is necessary to ensure that subsystems meet the needs of the overarching system. While this paradigm was successful for decades, evolving circumstances have resulted in two challenges. First, the increasing complexity of systems has eroded the system engineer's ability to predict the outcome of his or her design decisions. Second, the need to interconnect existing systems in the form of a system of systems challenges the system engineer's ability to exercise technical control because of the operational and managerial independence of the constituent systems. The application of a process predicated on invalid assumptions is not likely to achieve desirable results. This paper presents the top 10 assumptions, which are often illusory in today's systems environment. Unfortunately, our current systems engineering practices are based on heuristics dependent on many of these assumptions, often in the context of aerospace and defense programs, that have been acquired during the past half century, rather than on a solid body of scientific knowledge and are inadequate to support the discipline's necessary transformation. Consequently, research is critical to create the foundations that can support a new paradigm for systems engineering, one that is based on the reality of engineering systems in which deterministic prediction and control are no longer possible in many circumstances.