A BUSINESS ARCHITECT`S PERSPECTIVE
Businesses are operating in environments that are drastically more complex than the times traditional management methods were developed for. A Systems Thinking approach to management that helps us make the transition from viewing businesses as machines to thinking of them as living organisms, from looking at the “parts” to looking at the “whole”, is considered by experts and leading organizations like OECD as the paradigm shift needed to deal with complexity. Incorporating Systems Thinking principles within Strategy, Organizational Design and Problem Solving equips leaders with the tools and perspectives needed to manage in times of complexity.
This paper presents nine key Systems Thinking principles, where each principle is framed as a management question. In addition, Kaustuv also discusses the interesting and often overlooked synergy between Business Architecture and Systems Thinking and argues why Business Architects could be champions of a Systems Thinking approach.
About the author
Kaustuv Halder is an experienced Business Architect with about 17 years of experience working in the intersection of Strategy, Operations and Technology across various industries. Over the years, Kaustuv has developed a keen interest in Systems Thinking, which he believes is becoming increasingly relevant as a management competence necessary to deal with complexity and uncertainty of the modern business environment. As a practitioner, however, his primary motivation has been to understand how to apply Systems Thinking concepts to business discussions; more specifically to the domains of Strategy, Organization Design and Problem Solving that Business Architects are exposed to. That is the question he is trying to answer in this paper.
