Systems Intelligence Vs. Systems Thinking
One often encountered criticism of systems intelligence is its vocabular similarity to systems thinking. Systems intelligence has its foundations on systems thinking, especially in the research conducted by Peter Senge, but while systems thinking is a mental model that one can use as a tool, systems intelligence is an intrinsic type of intelligence in a human being.
Hämäläinen and Saarinen highlight the difference between systems thinking and systems intelligence via a hierarchical five-level model of systems intelligence. The levels for the amount of systems intelligence in a person are
- Seeing oneself in a system, or being aware of the systemic environment with systems thinking.
- Thinking about systems intelligence, or being aware that possibilities for productivity stem from the interaction with oneself and the system.
- Managing systems intelligence, or exercising productive ways of behaviour in the system.
- Sustaining systems intelligence, or exercising productivity in the long run.
- Leadership with systems intelligence, or initiating and leading organizations that are systems intelligent.
The more levels a person is able to handle, the more systems intelligent he or she is. A person equipped only with the mental model of systems thinking is left at level 1, while systems intelligence is needed in every level after that.
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Famous quotes containing the words systems, intelligence and/or thinking:
“What is most original in a man’s nature is often that which is most desperate. Thus new systems are forced on the world by men who simply cannot bear the pain of living with what is. Creators care nothing for their systems except that they be unique. If Hitler had been born in Nazi Germany he wouldn’t have been content to enjoy the atmosphere.”
—Leonard Cohen (b. 1934)
“The information links are like nerves that pervade and help to animate the human organism. The sensors and monitors are analogous to the human senses that put us in touch with the world. Data bases correspond to memory; the information processors perform the function of human reasoning and comprehension. Once the postmodern infrastructure is reasonably integrated, it will greatly exceed human intelligence in reach, acuity, capacity, and precision.”
—Albert Borgman, U.S. educator, author. Crossing the Postmodern Divide, ch. 4, University of Chicago Press (1992)
“Curtsey while you’re thinking what to say. It saves time.”
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)