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Systems Thinking Toolkit, free preview | Systems Engineering Advisory

SEA-ST-TOOLKIT · Free preview

Systems Thinking Toolkit: free sample

One tool, one way in. The full toolkit, sixteen tools, worked examples, figures and copy-ready templates, is free and open on the site; registering an email is optional and just keeps you posted as new tools and walkthroughs land.

Sample tool: Rich picture

This is one of the sixteen tools, shown in the compact quick-reference form. Every tool in the full toolkit has this plus a worked example, a step-by-step method, the relevant figure, and a copyable template.

1

Rich picture

Lifecycle: Frame / Understand Accessibility: High Time: 5 minutes for a quick sketch; longer to incorporate stakeholder input Standards anchor: ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288, Business or Mission Analysis; Stakeholder Needs & Requirements Definition · 24748-1 Concept stage

What is it?

Rich pictures are a quick, visual way to summarise a problem and the system around it. They surface the parts of a system, the relationships between them and, importantly, the perspectives held by different stakeholders. They are most useful when the team has only words and arguments, and needs something visible to focus the conversation.

Aims. Step back and identify key factors and relationships in the system; identify and engage stakeholders; make assumptions visible so they can be challenged.

Rich picture, visual vocabularyStick figures, thought bubbles, flows, icons, PESTLE-S⁴ promptsThe systemor problemat the centreOperator"Daily safetyand workload"Regulator"Complianceand evidence"Maintainer"Access andspare parts"Sponsor"Cost andavailability"informationauditswork outputfunding £LegalSafetyTechSkillsDrawn fast and rough; the value is in what it surfaces, not its tidiness.
Rich picture, stick figures, thought bubbles, flows and PESTLE-S⁴ prompts around a central system.click to enlarge

How to do it

  1. Decide the situation you want to capture. It can help to draw the system from a particular perspective (operator, end user, regulator), to draw it as it is now and then a future “to-be” version, or to draw at different levels (global supply chain, then national, then site).
  2. Start drawing, using whatever notation feels natural. Stick figures for stakeholders, labelled with role or organisation, with empty thought bubbles for each one's concern.
  3. Include those with informal influence, site staff, local community groups, maintenance crews, union reps, alongside those with formal authority. Ask who benefits, who decides, who delivers, and who is harmed or inconvenienced.
  4. Show the nature of relationships (cooperative, contractual, adversarial, dependent) with words or icons, and show flows of materials, energy, information, money, data and risk.
  5. Use PESTLE-S⁴ as a breadth prompt: Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, Environmental, Safety, Security, Sustainability, Skills.
  6. Share with stakeholders and ask: have I captured your position accurately? What surprises you? What is missing?

Where do I start?

Tell us what is bothering you and the picker points you at the tools to reach for first. This works in the preview; the full toolkit links each result straight through to the tool.

What is bothering you right now?

Where to start

Tools to reach for first

    Want the rest?

    The full toolkit is free and open on the site: sixteen tools, worked examples, figures, templates, the five principles, and a hands-on walkthrough for building a causal loop diagram.

    Open the full toolkit →

    Adapted from the Government Office for Science Introductory systems thinking toolkit for civil servants. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.