What is a Relationship System?
The key thing to remember is that no one is totally isolated from being a part of a relationship system. A relationship system can be any group of people who are interdependent on each other. There is always something that ties a system together: maybe a goal, a purpose, a need, or an identity.
Examples of relationship systems include, but are not limited to:
- Work colleagues
- A sports team
- A romantic couple
- A family unit
- The wider community
- A government
- A country
- A continent
- The world
- The universe (…if we ever come into contact with aliens)
The web of a relationship system can vary hugely in complexity and size.
What is Systems Thinking?
Systems thinking provides an operating system to facilitate the effective navigation of change. It is both a methodology and a philosophical framework for examining problems more completely, allowing us to make more informed choices.
Systems thinking helps us shift from observing events or data, to identifying patterns of behaviour over time. A systems thinking approach brings to the surface the underlying structures that are driving events and patterns.
Systems thinking helps address problems that arise as a result of the complexity and interconnectedness between people, organisations, society and environment.
Taking a systemic approach requires a willingness to see the situation more fully; to recognise that we are interrelated; and to acknowledge that there are often multiple interventions to a problem. The perspective requires curiosity, compassion and courage.
By understanding and changing structures that are not serving us well – including our mental models and perceptions – we can expand the choices available to us and create more satisfying, long-term solutions to chronic problems.
For a team to be effective, they need to be in good partnership. If we can’t understand our colleagues, their perspective and point of view, we can never have a productive relationship. Strong teams excel in Relationship Systems Intelligence. They have the ability to be both self-aware and collaborate with the larger whole — the system.
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