Systems Thinking: An Art for Articulating Complex Problems
An Interview with Alumni Mai Truyet Trinh
Linh Bui
For Mai, her achievement in Map the System stands out proudly among her many undergraduate accomplishments. Systems thinking is a vital art for analyzing and communicating the complexities of today's interconnected world. As she put it: "This is one of the best experiences I've had as an undergrad.”
Blog Banner Image: Map the System Canadian participants 2023 Karen Fletcher at the global stage.
“I don’t think many people realize this, but it’s extremely difficult for someone to communicate, to think something.They will just simplify it and then explain it to someone else with no knowledge or background relevant to the topic. And I think that’s one of the most underrated skills that we have so far. [With] system thinking, I was able to break it down, the relationship and also the intricate of how issues are inherently linked together.”
In today's interconnected world, the ability to analyze and communicate complex issues is becoming increasingly valuable. I recently had the chance to interview Mai, a former participant in the Map the System research competition, about how systems thinking has impacted her perspectives and career development.
Mai, who was a fourth-year strategy and operations management student at Simon Fraser University when she participated, first got involved with Map the System as a way to improve her ability to articulate her thoughts. "It's extremely difficult for someone to communicate, to think something. They will just simplify it and then explain it to someone else with no knowledge or background relevant to the topic," she said. "Systems thinking allowed me to break down the relationships and intricate ways that issues are inherently linked together."
Participating in the research program fundamentally changed how Mai views complicated vs. complex problems. "Complex is something that is difficult, but solvable," she explained. "Whereas when something is complicated, that requires a lot of pre-existing skills and knowledge." Systems thinking provided her a framework for grappling with this complexity.
For their research project on metric academia and society's over-quantification, Mai's team spent months mapping out the interconnected factors. "We realized that everything is somehow, in some way, connected," she recalled. "That correlation linked back to metric academia and became our hypothesis." From there, they had to prioritize which aspects to focus on based on potential impact.
Mai believes systems thinking gave her a significant advantage in her subsequent consulting career working with major companies. "It was extremely helpful to take something so complicated, like robotics and AI, and break it down into day-to-day operations," she said. "When I design blueprints, maps, processes or products, systems thinking helped me simplify the concepts and communicate them to stakeholders."
She described systems thinking as "almost an art" in its ability to visualize complex issues in an understandable but not oversimplified way. "There is always an overarching theme (systems archetypes), and that theme is the key insight or takeaway that is most valuable when telling others about a problem," Mai explained.
Image description: Problem analysis in the business field
In Mai's view, systems thinking is immensely practical for business students. "Everything you do in business influences a multitude of stakeholders - your clients, customers, employees, suppliers. Using systems thinking would allow you to encapsulate problems from a high-level perspective but with flexibility to analyze at a granular level as well." It enables more efficient resource allocation by showing who is impacted by which aspects of an issue.
For students considering participating in Map the System, Mai advises: "Put a lot of time into it. It is very time-consuming to conduct primary research...But it's a rewarding process because what you're doing will impact your team, the judges, and society as a whole. You'll feel a sense of pride about the work you put in."
She encourages students to attend events like the upcoming Map the System Final for both the intrinsic and extrinsic benefits. "Intrinsically, it stops you from overthinking and arranges your thinking in a more productive, useful way," Mai said. "Extrinsically, you get to learn from brilliant, dedicated presenters who genuinely care about their topics in an inspiring way." The judges also provide invaluable feedback challenging students to think more critically and long-term.
Mai Tuyet Trinh is a Map the System 2022 participant exploring the topic ‘Metric Academia’.
RSVP to attend the Canada Final FREE Now to be part of the systems thinking- driven future of change! For more details about the teams, topics and schedule of the Final, visit mapthesystem.ca/canadian-final-2024
- A Collection of Past Map the System Competitions -
