Key Ideas
Systems intelligence is an innate trait in all humans. It is a capacity that anyone can reveal, if one
- accepts that the world consists of a complex web of interacting relationships, to which everyone contributes
- engages the holistic feedback mechanism of the environment, and in this way, accepts the presence of systems by systems thinking
- sees the environment as feedback intensive, and manages to act intelligently, or rationally, in it
- interacts with the environment in a way that makes minor corrections in the systems, generating huge effects due to the nonlinear dynamics of the system
Thus, two main themes in systems intelligence are producing great positive outcomes, and avoiding negatives. The negative outcomes usually emerge accidentally from the dynamics of the systems; in other words, if action were more systems intelligent, the negative outcomes wouldn't have occurred at all. These outcomes ordinarily occur because human actors are inflected to approve their existence in the first place, thus being blind for betterment. Being systems intelligent is as easy as driving an automobile in a curve, but being blind for the dynamics of the system (that is, not knowing that you must turn the wheel to control the system) may lead the driver into the roadside. The paradox with humans acting in natural systems, such as relationships and organizations, is that they are more prone to drive out from the road than be clever enough to turn the wheel for safety.
One must also recognize the inverse opportunity: an impetus given, however petite, may entail giant positive outcomes, stemming from the invisible dynamics of the environment and people engaged into it. This phenomenon, entitled super-productivity, again requires awareness of the systemic environment.
Systems intelligence is not a tool one can acquire for some specific task, but rather a behavioral axiom that one uses without knowledge about it. The symptom that systems intelligence is not usually present in different situations (see Examples) is to be blamed of the systemic environment itself. Systems intelligence is also a form of intelligence in a human, that is measurable and comparable; if one knows how to engage in super-productivity, they are more systems intelligent than those who are trapped in producing only negative outcomes and ordinary performance.
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