System and Its Role-Based Behavior
We have already discussed the function of a system as the desired action or role-based behavior of the system. This desired action is assigned by people—things (systems) do not choose their own functions. What people need is not so much the thing itself (the material object), but its function. Stakeholders value a system for its function, although laypeople often do not distinguish between the two.
A system skill is the separate consideration and discussion of a function that someone needs, and the structure that is best suited to perform that function. This distinction will be discussed in more detail in later sections of the course.
The role-based behavior of a system is the way in which the system performs its functions and interacts with its environment, following a specific role. In systems thinking, a system is viewed as a "role-based object" that actively changes its environment by carrying out its function.
Simply put, a system plays its role in a "play" or "game," where its actions and methods of operation are determined by its role. For example, if you are a customer in a pizzeria, you follow certain actions, such as ordering pizza and paying for it. If you start asking for sandals in a pizzeria, the staff will step out of their usual roles and try to figure out what is happening, because you have disrupted the role structure.
The main idea is that roles and methods of operation must be aligned: first, we determine what needs to be changed in the surroundings of the system of interest, then we choose how to do it, and only after that do we define the role of the system, the methods of operation, and the role of the system's creators[1]. This sequence helps avoid mistakes and misunderstandings in projects.
To learn more about how this works, see the sections "The Mantra of Systems Thinking" and "The Game Metaphor" in the "Systems Thinking" course. ↩︎