Thanks to the participants of this online discussion group, I had the opportunity to reflect upon the role and the identity of a system thinker.

A systems thinker is not a person who thinks about systems, a systems thinker is a person who thinks in systems, first, and then, maybe, about systems. Or, even better, a systems thinker is a person who thinks in systems about systems.

Systems Thinking is an outcome. You get to it if you consider all components of a system defined by an arbitrary boundary. You are part of the system you are considering. The thinking is demanded of your brain, the systemic outcome depends on if and how you are considering the relationships and the interactions between all components of the observed system. And this is just a starting point. I see no religion, no dogma, no convictions if you go through the approach of Critical Thinking and mitigating biases when you are observing, pondering, and intervening. I see Systems Thinking as a huge amount of work, requiring discipline, focus, concentration, and collaboration much needed to be more effective and efficient in letting the thinking be of elevated quality. That’s also why I think the best Systems Thinking thinking can happen in the context of facilitating collective intelligence composed of diverse, integer, generous people (and machines).