Module Five: System Thinking

You have already explored Australia’s political institutions and our system of government in Module 1. You will have noticed the need to stay true to the constitution while dealing with a range of traditional players (e.g. the states) and a growing range of non-traditional players such as political advisors and non-government organisations.

In Module 2, you observed the means by which the government remained responsible ultimately to the people, yet you also considered how decision-making is complicated by political and non-rational elements, and machinery of government, requiring you to have ‘political acumen’ as you go about your business. In Module 3, you were reminded of the need for government to be accountable, but to whom? A number of review bodies and processes were discussed, as were the modern self-guiding instruments of values and codes of conduct.

Are traditional administrative responses and, even, the efficiency regimes of ‘managerialism’, sufficient to guide government into the future?

Indeed, public sector and public policy leaders (Australian Public Service Commission, 2007; Chapman, 2004; Hummelbrunner, 2011)^[1][2][3] and scholars (Meek, De Ladurantey & Newell, 2007; Morcol, 2005)^[4][5] have noted that social issues have outpaced traditional linear bureaucratic solutions. The public sector is increasingly resorting to innovative collaborative governance arrangements with public, private and non-profit institutions to address social problems. In other words, government agencies have evolved from being top-down hierarchical systems to be flatter, networked, complex systems.

We argue that an appreciation of complexity, complex systems and problems, and systems thinking has become essential for public sector managers.

In this module, you will examine the types of problems faced by the public sector as it deals with feedback from politicians and the media, as it becomes more complex in nature, and grapples with the requirement of interconnectedness, and responds to forces arising out of globalisation.

The APS has described these problems as ‘wicked problems’ and will be discussed in Topic 1.

How do you know what type of system, simple, complicated or complex, is being engaged at any time? In Topic 2, you will be assisted to identify and categorise through using a taxonomy developed by Stacey (2002)^[7] and will be encouraged to adapt your practice contingent upon the type of system you encounter.

In Topic 3, you will be provided with an opportunity to explore the idea of ‘complexity’ further and with emphasis upon three aspects: embedded systems, adaptive mechanisms and emergent structures (networks and clusters), as a means to think further about the public sector. It is also useful to have an idea of tools you might be able to use to progress systems thinking and this module introduces you in Topic 4 to some of the tools useful for understanding social systems, which contribute to Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) developed by Peter Checkland (1990)^[8] and which is the most widely used systems thinking application.

Influential thinkers in this area include: Russell Ackoff, W. Edwards Deming, Stafford Beer, Michael Jackson, Peter Checkland, and Peter Senge. The topic also will be taken up again in later PSMP Units.

Spend a moment thinking about what you already understand about working in a system, based upon your workplace and academic experience. If you are entirely new to this area, this short guide to being a Systems Leader, from the UK government, may help give you a sense of the field and of where a public servant can fit in.