Systems ThinkingSystems thinking has its foundations in the field of system dynamics, founded in 1956 by MIT professor Jay Forrester. Professor Forrester recognized the need for a better way to test new ideas about social systems, in the same way we can test ideas in engineering. Systems thinking allows people to make explicit their understanding of social systems and improve them in the same way that people can use engineering principles to make explicit and improve their understanding of mechanical systems. The systems thinking approach The systems thinking approach is fundamentally different from that of systems thinking. traditional forms of analysis. Traditional analysis focuses on separating individual pieces of what you are studying; in fact, the word "analysis" derives from the root which means "to break down into constituent parts". Systems thinking, in contrast, focuses on how the object studied interacts with the other constituents of the system – a set of elements that interact to produce behavior – of which it is a part. This means that instead of isolating smaller and smaller parts of the system being studied, systems thinking works by expanding one's vision to take into account more and more interactions as a problem is studied. This results in conclusions that are sometimes surprisingly different from those generated by traditional forms of analysis, especially when what is being studied is dynamically complex or has a large amount of feedback from other sources, internal or external. The character of systems thinking makes it extremely effective on the types of problems that are most difficult to solve: those involving complex issues, those that depend largely on the past or the actions of others, and those resulting from ineffective coordination between those involved . Examples of areas where systems thinking has proven its value include: Complex problems that involve helping many actors see the "big picture" and not just their part of it Recurring problems or those that have been made worse by past attempts to solve them Problems in which an action influences (or is influenced by) the environment surrounding the problem, whether the natural environment or the competitive environment Problems whose solutions are not obvious Use of systems thinking An example that illustrates the difference between perspective of systems thinking and the perspective adopted by traditional forms of analysis is the actions taken to reduce damage to crops caused by insects. When an insect eats a crop, the conventional response is to spray the crop with a pesticide designed to kill that insect.