recently attended a workshop on Systems Thinking, I would like to share my learnings with you.Firstly I would like to thank Manish Jain for investing his time to teach us.
I thought I had a solid grasp on what thinking was. However, the workshop revealed that I had been thinking without fully understanding my own thinking processes. It also exposed that, like many others, I had unconsciously specialized myself in analytical thinking and methods, which have notable limitations when addressing problems in social systems. The course proved that our analytical way of looking at the world was a major contributory factors for issues that persist in social systems such as work and life. Manish then introduced me to new modes of thinking, which he called the Systems Thinking. These new perspectives allow us to understand systems in ways our usual thought patterns cannot, leading to a deeper and more nuanced understanding of problems. The in-person workshop was incredibly enlightening, motivating me to continue broadening my mental horizons by embracing these new ways of thinking.
That said, I would recommend this course only and only if you’re ready to deeply reflect on your thinking processes and how your current patterns might be contributing to problems within the systems that you you’re part of. The course was psychologically taxing, but in hindsight, it was well worth it and potentially life-changing.
For me, this course was more about grasping the psychology of systems than a technical examination of real systems, much like how the psychology of money differs from mathematical finance.
My top take away was, if you’re not open to being proven wrong, you’re not truly learning. Furthermore, despite our beliefs, we’re often way less open to being proven wrong than we think we are. If you believe you are open to be proven wrong, I challenge you to attend Manish’s Systems Thinking workshop and put your beliefs to test.
