(This blog is my research from different resources... because me too I was asking the same questions as you.)

To be really quick for people that like short: "The system thinking is the ability to understand how systems interact and how a change in one part can change everything or impact different parts in the system".

Now let's go deeper to understand what is System Thinking and why it's important for people:

What is System Thinking

The principle of system thinking is a holistic way of understanding complexity — seeing things as interconnected parts of a larger whole rather than as isolated pieces. It's about relationships, context, patterns, and feedback rather than just linear cause-and-effect. In other words, instead of breaking problems down into separate pieces (reductionist thinking), you look at how everything interacts and influences each other.

System Theory

This comes from System Theory (which is about understanding how society works by observing how persons interact and adapt to their environment...). An example of System Theory: imagine your daily life is made up of several interconnected parts: school or work, exercise, sleep, social life, and hobbies. Each part can affect the other rather than existing alone.

Routine and Interconnections

• You like jogging in the mornings — this improves your energy levels and mood.
• When you feel energetic, you concentrate better at work or school.
• Better focus means you finish tasks earlier and spend more time with friends in the evening.
• This strengthens your relationships and support network.

This system creates a positive feedback loop: exercise → better mood → higher productivity → more social time → improved wellbeing — each part amplifies the others.

Stress and Ripple Effects

Now imagine you have mid-term exams or a big work deadline approaching. You start spending more hours studying or working late into the night.

Here's how this change ripples through the system:

• Less sleep leads to fatigue.
• Fatigue reduces motivation to go jogging.
• Skipping exercise lowers mood and energy.
• Lower energy makes it harder to concentrate at work/school.
• You start feeling stressed and withdraw from friends.

Without systems thinking, Sam might blame poor performance just on studying too little or stress alone. But from a systems perspective, we see how the parts are connected and how one change (more study hours) affects all other parts.

Now we can see that when the balance is disrupted, we get a negative feedback loop, where making efforts to solve one problem (study or work more) ends up limiting other parts of the system.

Core Ideas of Systems Thinking

• A system is a group of interactions with a purpose, and the behavior of a system arises from relationships between elements, not the elements themselves.
• Feedback loops help us to explain how actions influence future actions. Some loops reinforce change, others balance them.
• Patterns and behaviors emerge over time that you cannot see by looking only at individual parts.

The core of System Thinking asks a few questions:

1. What is connected?
2. What causes what?
3. Where are the feedback loops?

And System Thinkers ask:

What happens next if I fix this?

Why We Need This in Life

The response you can see for yourself: life now is full of complex systems. Your schedule, health, community, finances, education, relationships, career paths — all interact in ways that aren't obvious at first. Systems thinking helps you:

See the Big Picture

Instead of reacting to individual events, you notice patterns (e.g., recurring burnout, debt cycles, habits) and consider underlying causes.

Understand Feedback

You learn that actions have effects that loop back — e.g., more work leads to stress, which lowers productivity, which increases stress. Recognizing loops helps you redesign habits.

Spot Interconnections

So many problems are mistakenly treated as isolated: for example, sleeping poorly isn't just about bedtime — it's diet, screen time, stress, and environment all influencing each other.

What We Gain from System Thinking

First, it lets you see around the corners — explore possible opportunities and challenges before they arrive.

How to Practice Systems Thinking in Everyday Life

Instead of reacting to an isolated problem ("I missed deadlines"), ask:

• What patterns do I see over time?
• What conditions keep repeating?

Ask Better Questions

Instead of:

"Why did this happen now?"

Try:

• What is part of this system?
• Who/what influences whom?
• What are the feedback loops here?
• If I change X, what likely changes happen elsewhere?

Challenge Assumptions

Systems thinking asks you to step back and reflect on mental models — the internal beliefs that shape interpretation of events. A mental model might be, "If I work longer, I'll get more done." But a systems view might uncover that longer hours decrease focus and quality.

To Remember

• Systems aren't just lists of parts — they're connected and affect each other.
• Feedback loops show how actions can reinforce or balance outcomes.
• A holistic perspective reveals better, more sustainable solutions than linear, isolated thinking.

And remember, software engineers also need system thinking :)