3 Systems Thinking Skills You Need to Know

Sustainability challenges rarely have simple causes or simple solutions.

Climate change, biodiversity loss, inequality, resource use and the transition to a low-carbon economy are all connected to complex systems. What happens in one part of a system can create unexpected consequences somewhere else.

That’s why systems thinking is such an important skill for anyone working towards a more sustainable future.

Systems thinking is about looking beyond individual problems and asking: What else is connected to this? What is influencing it? And what might happen if we change one part of the system?

You don’t need to be a systems scientist to start thinking this way. Here are three practical systems thinking skills that can help you understand complex sustainability challenges and identify opportunities for meaningful change.

1. Seeing the bigger picture

One of the most important systems thinking skills is being able to step back from an individual problem and understand the wider system it sits within.

It can be tempting to focus on the most visible part of a problem. For example, if an organisation wants to reduce waste, it might focus on providing more recycling bins.

But systems thinking encourages us to ask different questions:

·       Why is so much waste being produced in the first place?

·       How are products being purchased and used?

·       What incentives influence people's behaviour?

·       Who makes decisions about procurement?

·       What happens to materials after they leave the organisation?

·       Are there financial, cultural or structural barriers to reducing waste?

Suddenly, the problem looks very different. This broader perspective can help us move from treating symptoms to understanding the underlying structures, relationships and behaviours that create them.

Try it: Pick a sustainability issue you encounter in your organisation or community. Instead of immediately asking ‘How can we fix this?’, spend a few minutes asking ‘What factors are contributing to this?’ 

Write down as many different influences as you can. You might be surprised by how interconnected the issue is.

2. Understanding connections and relationships

Systems are made up of relationships between different parts. Understanding those relationships is another key systems thinking skill.

Consider something as everyday as food. Food production is connected to land use, water, energy, biodiversity, transport, economics, culture, health and livelihoods. A change in one part of the system can have consequences elsewhere.

For example, increasing demand for a particular crop might create economic opportunities for farmers, but could also influence land use, biodiversity and water consumption. This doesn't mean that every decision will have negative consequences. Instead, systems thinking helps us recognise that there are often trade-offs, feedback loops and unintended consequences.

One useful way to explore these connections is to create a simple systems map.

Put your issue in the middle of a piece of paper and start drawing connections: 

You can then ask:

·       What influences what?

·       Where are the strongest relationships?

·       Where are there feedback loops?

·       Who has influence over different parts of the system?

·       Where might a small intervention create a bigger change?

Mapping these relationships can reveal opportunities that aren't obvious when we look at individual problems in isolation.

3. Thinking about change over time

Systems aren't static. They change over time. This means that a solution that appears successful in the short term might produce very different results in the future.

For example, imagine an organisation introduces a new sustainability initiative. Initially, participation is high because people are enthusiastic about the change. But six months later, participation begins to decline.

A traditional approach might ask: ‘Why aren't people following the initiative anymore?’

Systems thinking encourages us to look at what has changed. Perhaps staff turnover has meant fewer people understand the initiative. Maybe workloads have increased. Perhaps the original enthusiasm wasn't supported by organisational processes or leadership. Or maybe the system has adapted around the intervention in an unexpected way. Thinking in terms of patterns and trends, rather than isolated events, can help us understand these dynamics.

It also encourages us to think beyond immediate results and consider:

What could this intervention look like in five years?

That question can lead to very different decisions.

Putting the three skills together

These three skills work best when they're used together:

Imagine you're trying to encourage more sustainable travel within your organisation.

You could simply promote cycling and public transport. Or you could use systems thinking to explore the wider system:

Bigger picture: What factors influence how people travel to work?

Connections: How are transport choices connected to cost, infrastructure, working patterns, safety, health, convenience and organisational culture?

Change over time: What might happen if flexible working patterns change? What infrastructure would be needed to make sustainable travel easier in the long term?

This approach doesn't necessarily produce a single answer. Instead, it helps you understand the system well enough to identify where meaningful change might be possible.

Why systems thinking matters for sustainability

Many of the challenges we face today are described as wicked problems. These are problems that are complex, interconnected and difficult to solve through a single intervention.

This is why sustainability leadership isn't simply about knowing the facts about climate change or having good intentions. It is also about being able to navigate complexity, work with uncertainty and understand how change happens within systems. 

And importantly, systems thinking is a skill that can be developed. The more you practise looking for connections, patterns and relationships, the easier it becomes to apply systems thinking to the challenges around you.

Want to develop your sustainability leadership skills?

Systems thinking is one of the skills explored through the Sustainability Leadership Skills Programme (SLSP).

The programme supports participants to develop practical skills for creating positive change, including systems thinking, creativity, responsible project management, sustainability communication and leadership, and resilience.

If you're looking to understand complex sustainability challenges, influence change within your organisation or community, and develop your own sustainability leadership skills, find out more about the Sustainability Leadership Skills Programme and how you can get involved here.