The Systemic Approach: what is it all about?

1 1 The Systemic approach : what is it all about? Synthesis of the work conducted by the AFSCET group "Dissemination of the Systemic thinking" (G rard Donnadieu, Daniel Durand, Dani le Neel, Emmanuel Nunez, Lionel Saint-Paul) The great intellectual adventure of the end of the 20th century was the discovery of the extraordinary complexity of the world that surrounds us. The complexity concerns the cosmos, living organisms, human societies, but also all the artificial systems conceived and designed by people. These latter systems are, as is an economic enterprise, of technical, organizational, economic and social workmanship. The phenomenon of globalization of trade, whether commercial, financial or cultural, only accelerates this awareness of complexity and accentuates its effects.

2 Certainly, complexity has always existed even though its perception is recent. For a long time, in their quest for knowledge and wisdom, humankind sought out only simple and logical explanations for the luxuriance of the world. This was first the agenda of philosophy then, in modern times that of positive science based on the Cartesian method and characterized by the attempt to reduce complexity to its elementary components. A fabulous method, by the way, since it is at the origin of the great progress made by science during the 19th and 20th centuries. This Cartesian method is perfectly adapted to the study of stable systems consisting of a limited number of elements with linear interactions ( which can be described by continuous and additive mathematical laws) but it is no longer suitable when considering organized complexity as encountered in large biological, economic and social systems.

3 Another approach is thus required, based on new representations of reality taking into account various occurrences of instability, openness, fluctuation, chaos, disorder, vagueness, creativity, contradiction, ambiguity, paradox. All these aspects that were once perceived as non-scientific by the prevailing positivism, are now considered as prerequisites for understanding the complexity of the real world. "If we do not change the way we think, we will not be able to solve the problems we create with our current ways of thinking", said Albert Einstein. This new way of thinking has a name: the Systemic approach . The Systemic approach : an attempt to define it The Systemic approach first arose in the United States in the early 1950s.

4 It arrived and has been practiced in France since the 1970s. The Systemic approach opens an original and promising path for research and for action. Its approach has already given rise to many applications in various fields: biology, ecology, economics, family therapy, business organisational management, town planning, land use planning, etc. It is based on the concrete apprehension of a number of concepts such as: system, interaction, feedback, regulation, organization, purpose, global vision, evolution, etc. It takes shape in the process of modelling, which makes extensive use of graphical language and goes from qualitative model development, in the form of "maps", to the construction of dynamic and quantified models, operable on computers and leading to simulation.

5 This is why the implementation of this approach requires a conceptual and practical learning effort that must be agreed upon by all (researchers, decision-makers, professionals and politicians, people of action but also simple citizens who want to understand their era) and who aspire to make a happy dive into complexity, in order to first orient themselves and then in a second time to be able to act on it. 2 Constantly combining awareness and action, the Systemic approach is presented as the indissoluble alliance of knowledge and practices. Taking into account the above summary graph will lead us very logically to present the Systemic approach in of two parts: - the Systemic approach , knowledge and concepts - the Systemic approach , a method and a learning process.

6 But before we get to those two parts, the graph will have allowed us to understand the attempt at defining the Systemic approach , without a doubt a little convoluted, given by the AFSCET (French Association of Sciences of the Cybernetic, Cognitive and Technical Systems), a reminder of which appeared in 1994 in the International Journal of the Systemic approach (Revue Internationale de Syst mique). Definition of the Systemic approach : New discipline which brings together theoretical, practical, and methodological approaches, relating to the study of what is recognized as too complex to be approached in a reductionist way, and which poses the problems of borders, internal and external relationships, structures, laws or emerging properties characterizing the system as such, or the problems of: mode of observation, representation, modelling or simulation of a complex totality.

7 Tools triangulation analogy breakdown graphical language modelling/simulation Systemic approach Practices Systemic approach Knowledge 4 basic concepts complexity wholeness interaction system an approach prudent, ambitious A learning process some advice: -alternate concepts/practice -progress by levels and by iteration -avoid hasty conclusions and pretentions of exhaustiveness other concepts variety purpose, project information level of organisation feedback regulation openness / closure response time black box 3 The Systemic approach : knowledge To understand the complexity, the Systemic approach uses a certain number of specific concepts that can be grouped as follows: - four basic concepts of a general nature, articulated among them and capable, in advance, of being placed in a simple presentation, - a dozen complementary concepts that are more technical and action-oriented.

8 Four basic concepts of the Systemic approach the complexity the wholeness the interaction the system The complexity As shown previously, the awareness of complexity is the cause of the slow emergence of the Systemic approach . Without complexity, analytical rationalism could seem to be sufficient to apprehend the world and science. This concept refers to all the difficulties of comprehension (vagueness, uncertainty, unpredictability, ambiguity, randomness) posed by the apprehension of a complex reality and which is perceived by the observer as a lack of information (available or not).

9 The system This concept is the foundation on which the Systemic approach is based. Etymologically, the word comes from the Greek sust ma which means "coherent whole". Several definitions can be given and we will retain here: - the "broad" definition given by Jacques Lesourne: A system is a set of elements in dynamic interaction. - the "narrow" definition given by Joel de Rosnay: A system is a set elements in dynamic interaction, organized according to a goal. This definition focuses on the purpose or the aim of the system. Numerous typologies of systems have also been proposed by researchers: - open systems / closed systems to their environment, - natural / artificial / social systems, - hierarchically organized systems / networked systems, - An interesting typology, according to the American M.

10 Bunge, is based on the supposed order of appearance of different systems over time. 4 The graph below reads from the bottom to the top. From living systems, there is emergence of creative self-organization. Such systems are referred to as HCS: Hyper Complex Systems. social systems artificial systems symbolic systems human system living systems chemical systems physical systems Wholeness This is a property of complex systems, often translated by the saying "everything is more than the sum of the parts "and according to which one cannot really know the parts without taking them into account as a whole in their entirety.