• [[stpa]]
  • A system is a set of components that act together as a whole to achieve some common goal, objective, or end. A system may contain subsystems and may also be part of a larger system.
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system

A system is an interconnected set of elements that is coherently organized in a way that achieves something.

– [[Thinking in Systems]]

If you look at that definition closely for a minute, you can see that a system must consist of three kinds of things: elements, interconnections, and a function or purpose.

– [[Thinking in Systems]]

So what is a system? Simply a set of things that are interconnected in ways that produce distinct patterns of behaviour – be they cells in an organism, protestors in a crowd, birds in a flock, members of a family, or banks in a financial network. And it is the relationships between the individual parts – shaped by their [[stocks and flows]], [[feedbacks]], and delay – that give rise to their emergent behaviour

– [[Doughnut Economics]]

• A system is more than the sum of its parts.
• Many of the interconnections in systems operate through the flow of information.
• The least obvious part of the system, its function or purpose, is often the most crucial determinant of the system’s behavior.
• System structure is the source of system behavior. System behavior reveals itself as a series of events over time.

– [[Thinking in Systems]]

most of the challenges that really matter involve systems, for example, energy and global warming; water, food, and population; and health and social justice.

– [[A Systems Literacy Manifesto]]

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