What are we looking at?
What exactly is “systems analysis”, and why does it get more necessary every year?
Why systems analysis?
The problems in front of us today are rarely simple or one-dimensional. Making the right decision, designing a policy that actually works, improving an organisation’s process, or even understanding a social phenomenon all call for a view that sees the whole and doesn’t settle for one corner of the story. Systems analysis exists for exactly this point.
I think systems analysis is one of the most basic subjects in engineering, management and social systems, because it teaches us to look at a subject not from one component or one specialty, but from above and in the interaction of its parts. The aim of this introductory course is the same: to get to know the basic concepts of system, analysis, the relation of components and the role purpose plays in shaping structures, so that we can build a sound analytical approach to complex problems.
Two first definitions
What is a system? A set of components that are connected and work for a specific purpose. Components can be physical or non-physical, human or non-human, visible or invisible. The key point of the definition is that there are connections and a purpose between the components.
What is analysis? “Decompose, then connect.” Contrary to the common idea, analysis is not just breaking a problem into smaller pieces; its art is that after decomposing, we rebuild the relations between the pieces and arrive at a new understanding of the whole. In systems analysis we don’t only want to know the components, we want to understand how they work together to reach one coherent result.
Where does it apply?
Systems analysis is not a purely theoretical or academic concept. Wherever there is a problem with several parts that affect each other, it belongs:
- designing an organisation’s structure
- analysing economic or environmental crises
- optimising production or service processes
- designing information and technology systems
- understanding complex social phenomena such as poverty, migration or public policy
In all of these, a systems view helps us decide better and see unintended consequences earlier.
Why does it matter more for the future?
The future is moving fast towards more complexity, and we can no longer solve problems with a linear, traditional view. Artificial intelligence, climate change, emerging technologies, social networks, data governance and the like are phenomena that can be neither understood nor managed without a systematic view. Systems analysis prepares us to think in several dimensions, find hidden connections and foresee possible futures, and I suspect these abilities will be an advantage for every person, every organisation and even every country in tomorrow’s world.