Becoming a Systems Thinker — The Big Picture and Consequences

Start here You failed an exam and feel your life is over. Your friend takes you up in a helicopter. From 2,000 feet, you see your whole life: graduating at 22, a good job at 28, a family, a home for your parents, travelling the world. The exam is still important, but now it’s just one small dot.

The Waters Center for Systems Thinking lists 14 habits of a systems thinker. This week’s teachers explain several of them (see the full list on the guidelines page). This page covers two: seeing the big picture and considering consequences.

A big-picture person sees both the narrow picture (the details) and the big picture. Both matter.

Questions to ask:

• How can I see the big picture without losing sight of important details?
• How can I widen the boundaries of my system?
  • In space: “I’m not just in the mechanical department. I’m connected to the whole campus.”
  • In time: “Where will I be in 2, 5, 10 years?”
• How much time should I spend understanding the larger system?
• Focus on what you can influence, not on what you can’t.

Lecture example — the band A drummer in a marching band only hears his own beat. He can’t tell that someone five rows away missed a beat. A person watching from the stands sees both: the drummer doing well, and the one who slipped.

Lecture example — rainwater harvesting (Prof. Kartic) In the 1990s, Chennai flats were short of water. It was easy to blame the government. But the big picture was different: the city got enough rain for everyone, and most of it was being lost as run-off into drains. So rainwater harvesting was promoted, and later made compulsory. Each building could do this within its own control, and well water improved quickly.

Tip: Keep your “helicopter” parked outside your house. Whenever you’re stuck in the narrow picture, go up and look.

Every action, or non-action, has consequences:

Unintended consequences can be positive too. You help an elderly person cross the road, and that kindness comes back to you in a way you never expected.

Questions to ask:

• What are the unintended consequences of this action? What trade-offs should I consider?
• Can I accept short-term pain for long-term gain?

Lecture example — Operation Cat Drop (the “Cats in Borneo” video) In the 1950s, DDT was sprayed in Borneo to kill malaria mosquitoes. It worked, but:

• Lizards (geckos) ate the poisoned insects, and cats ate the lizards. Many cats died.
• With fewer cats, rats multiplied and brought the risk of disease (typhus and plague).
• So cats were parachuted into villages: “Operation Cat Drop”. One “simple” fix caused a chain of unintended consequences.

Lecture example — outbound training at IIT Madras (Lt Col Jayakumar)

• Short-term: students hated waking up at 5:30 a.m.; a few twisted ankles.
• Long-term: students from different departments became friends, gained confidence, and learned to speak in front of 40 people.
• Unintended: small injuries. Overall, it is remembered fondly.

Lecture example — “no hands, no legs, no tooth!” A boy learning to cycle shows off: “No hands!”, then “No legs!” — and then he falls. “No tooth!” Short-term: a new skill. Long-term: he knows how to cycle. Unintended: a broken tooth.

In one line: See both the details and the big picture (widen your view in space and time), and before acting, think about short-term, long-term and unintended consequences. Exam words: 14 habits of a systems thinker, Waters Center, big picture, narrow picture, boundaries in space and time, sphere of influence, short-term, long-term and unintended consequences, trade-off, Operation Cat Drop, rainwater harvesting.