Think systems

Patient and employee safety is more about systems performance than individual performance, Adverse events result from complex processes embedded in the organization, not just from the actions of the individual clinician or technician. Patient safety 

Thomas Krause, Leading with Safety (Hoboken, NJ John Wiley Sons, 2005). 

Kerry D. Carson, Paula P. Carson, Ram Yallapragada, and C. William Roe, Teamwork or Interdepartmental Cooperation Which Is More Important in the Health Care Setting Health Care 

Cohen and Y. Kol, Professionalism and Organizational Citizenship Behavior An Empirical Examination among Israeli Nurses, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 19 (2004) pp. 386-405. 

Jacqueline A-M. Coyle-Shapiro, Ian Kessler, and John Purcell, Reciprocity or It s My Job Exploring Organizationally Directed Citizenship Behavior in a National Health Service Setting, Journal of Management Studies, 41 (January 2004) pp. 85-106. 

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Checkland P., 1991. Systems thinking, systems practice, John Wiley Sons, Chichester. 

Hammer GL, Sinclair TR, Chapman SC, Oosterom EV (2004) Scientific correspondence on systems thinking, systems biology and the in silico plant. Plant Physiol 134 909-911... 

When the CMOS battery (or Dallas chip) is replaced, the system settings must be reset. But they will be retained when the power is shut off. Some people immediately think system board problem when the answer is a cheap little battery and 10 minutes of labor. Because of the simplicity of this repair, most service professionals replace these batteries as a courtesy service for their customers. Consider it an outpatient repair. 

Peter Checkland, Systems Thinking, Systems Practice. New York John Wiley Sons, 1981. A classic on how to define messy problems. Use their CATWOE criteria. 

Engineers of Tomorrow Holistic-Thinking System Engineers... 

We must broaden the thought process and create holistic-thinking systems engineers, encouraging out of the box thinking and ensuring they have a wide enough aperture to see all aspects and implications of the product. 

The focus on developing new principles and methods for 21st century creativity will be especially important for a creative knowledge economy. Any individual in the US workforce in the future who is not technically literate, with the capacity to think systemically within a futures context, will be relegated to low paying, basic service jobs that often will have little meaning. 

Checkland, P.M. 1981. Systems Thinking, Systems Practice. Chichester Wiley. 

From a philosophical point of view, the development of chemistry is toward complex systems, from divided to condensed matter then to organized and adaptive systems, on to living systems and thinking systems, up the ladder of complexity. 

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