So, people often ask, what is #SystemsThinking and I have just come up with a new explanation using #COVID19 and chip shops.

Imagine I own a chippy. It is staffed by my partner, a single Mom and a teenager. There is little paperwork and I have an accountant to do my paperwork. My customers are from the local area and include a old lady who comes in twice a week partly for a hot meal but mainly for the social contact as she lives alone. The local police also come in for a quick hot meal on an almost nightly basis.

Now imagine I have to close the chippy due to COVID-19 regardless of the reason why. During the time I’m closed the old lady has no social contact and the police struggle to function to the best of their abilities due to not being able to get a hot meal. I no longer am able to pay the wages of any of the staff including myself. There has been support announced, but I don’t know how to access it and have little confidence in dealing with authority. The single Mom I employed can no longer afford to travel so she and her child Effectively become housebound.

Then when the crisis is over, I want to reopen. Luckily, I own the chip shop so have it to go back to. However, I have no money to buy potatoes and there are no potatoes available to buy as it is not potato season and all the stocks of potatoes have been bought by people panic buying. What #SystemsThinking does is provide tools which enables people to understand the situation and possibly assist in identifying interventions.

Using the example above it highlights the complexity of the situation. It also highlights that within a situation there are many actors. It also highlights that what may appear a simple situation, a local chip closing, impacts on many other situations. For instance, you could consider the situation from the old ladies perspective, the impact of the police not being able to function to the best of the abilities, or from the economies perspective if I own a shop but can’t afford to pay business rates because I can’t afford to buy stock and reopen. And as things have changed since the shop closed if the chip shop reopened would things go back to the way they were previously? Would the old lady and the police come back once I reopened? And if not, would the chip shop be financially viable without their custom? What would happen if I had to close the shop but could find a way to deliver food?

No one can have the answers but being able to explore the situation and understand other perspectives can have huge benefits. Also, there is value to understanding the boundaries of the situation and making judgements on what should and shouldn’t be included within a situation.