How I use 'systems thinking' to address community challenges.

Working with a community in building out systems.

I am a systems thinker in building communities. I work with 'systems thinking' to create communities that are more connected, adaptive, and able to solve problems from the ground up. Overall, it helps in making big decisions as a lens.

What is Systems Thinking?

• Big Picture View: Instead of looking at a problem in isolation, systems thinking looks at the whole system to understand relationships, patterns, and feedback loops.

• Interconnectedness: It recognizes that issues don't exist on their own (e.g., housing affects transportation, which affects jobs, which affects well-being)

• Root causes, not just symptoms: Instead of quick fixes, it asks: What's driving this problem? How are the different parts reinforcing or balancing each other?

• Dynamic, not static: Communities and systems change over time. Systems thinking pays attention to how changes ripple out and what unintended consequences might arise.

Within my experience, I can see how different challenges (like housing, transit, or social isolation) are connected, and understand that community issues are "wicked problems" (complex, with no right answer). I engage with the community in designing solutions that work across silos (e.g., instead of just creating a food bank, also tackling root causes like income inequality and transportation access). Systems thinking is a tool and process I use to address root causes and outline interconnected community systems in solutions.

Overall, it is about empowering communities to create resilient ecosystems, where people, organizations, and institutions reinforce each other.

Kristen