I love the way you have contextualized, super big ideas into a tangible framework of interdependence. Such a simple way to dissect perceived problems, obstacles or even fears. Thank so much for sharing your insights and wisdom🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾❕❕❕ Ps.like’d and subscribed!
Thank you so much for watching and saying this!! This is really my goal because these frameworks helped me so much :D so glad you found it simple and useful - fuel for me to make more ️🔥 thank you!
My 15 y/o daughter and I just used this video to analyze why our family couldn’t seem to potty train our new puppy successfully. The problem was causing resentment between siblings and frustration all around. We went through ea h section and applied every model to the problem and learned how to think in systems together. We both experienced a sense of empowerment and relief. I didn’t actually think I would see anything new and was completely wrong. It was a fantastic bonding opportunity as well. Thank you Vicky! Consider us fans for life!
Very nice.But wait, there's more! Vicky does an OUTSTANDING job of distilling and explaining General Systems Theory, which is oriented to the functional aspects. There is also Soft Systems Theory, which gets into the social and political aspects of very complex, human-created systems.
my notes: - Two Ways of Looking at the World The transcript discusses the two ways of looking at the world, which are in parts or as a whole. Most people are trained to think in parts, breaking something complex down into its individual components to understand what is happening in the more complex worlds. However, the whole is more than the sum of its parts, and usually, it's in the connection between the different subjects, the different parts, and the relationships between those that really signifies how something actually works. Systems thinking is introduced to understand problems as a whole as well as identify the cause and not just treat the symptoms. - Thinking in Parts vs. as a Whole Most people have been trained to think in parts, reducing complex things down into their individual components to understand the complex world. However, the whole is more than the sum of its parts, and it's the connection between the different parts and relationships between them that truly signify how something works. Systems thinking is introduced to understand problems as a whole as well as identify the cause and not just treat the symptoms. - Our Training in Thinking in Parts Our schools are set up to teach us to think in parts. We have subjects like English, Math, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and we study each one of them to understand what the world is like. - Breaking Down Complex Things One of the ways of looking at the world is to take something complex and break it down into its individual components. - Studying Individual Components Studying each individual component in order to understand what is happening in the more complex worlds is one of the ways of looking at the world. Our schools are set up this way. - Understanding the Complex World One of the ways of looking at the world is to study each individual component in order to understand what is happening in the more complex worlds. - The Whole is More Than the Sum of Its Parts As Aristotle says, the whole is more than the sum of its parts, and it's usually the connection between the different subjects and parts and the relationships between them that truly signify how something actually works. - Introduction to Systems Thinking Systems thinking is introduced to understand problems as a whole as well as identify the cause and not just treat the symptoms. Six mental models are used to understand problem as a whole. - Organic Anti-Fragility and Stock and Flow An introduction to two mental models that can help you understand complex systems better: Organic Anti-Fragility and Stock and Flow. These models can help simplify the world around you and break down complex problems into smaller, more manageable parts. - Organic Anti-Fragility Organic Anti-Fragility is a system that is resistant to shock and disorder, and can even thrive in chaos. By understanding the interconnectedness of different elements of a system, we can allow the solution to happen on its own. To better understand the interconnectedness, one can draw non-linear connections between different elements of the system instead of linearly thinking about things one by one. - Stock and Flow Stock and Flow is a mental model that breaks down systems into two parts: Stock and Flow. Stock refers to the things in the system that can be added or subtracted, such as animals, plants, soil, and water. Flow refers to the actions that change the number of stock, such as buying, selling, or harvesting. By understanding the stock and flow of a system, you can simplify complex problems and better understand how the different elements of a system are connected. - Examples of Stock and Flow An example of stock and flow is a farm. The stock refers to the animals, humans, plants, soil, water, and money that make up the farm. The flow refers to the actions that change the number of stock, such as selling a product. Selling lemons, for example, would decrease the amount of lemons and increase the amount of money made by the farm. By understanding the stock and flow of a system, you can better understand how different elements are connected. - Simplification with Stock and Flow Using the stock and flow mental model can help you simplify complex systems by breaking them down into two parts: stock and flow. This makes it easier to understand how different elements of a system are connected and how they change over time. By focusing on the stock and flow, you can better understand the cause-and-effect relationships within a system. - Conclusion By using the mental models of Organic Anti-Fragility and Stock and Flow, you can better understand complex systems and break them down into smaller, more manageable parts. By focusing on the interconnectedness of different elements of a system and understanding the stock and flow of a system, you can simplify complex problems and better understand how the different parts of a system are connected. These mental models can help you make better decisions and solve problems more effectively. - Living in harmony with nature Humans should learn to live in harmony with nature instead of trying to control the environment. This is the key to solving all the problems associated with the environment. The farm in the discussion was having issues with the snail population. Instead of controlling the snails, they looked for how nature dealt with snails, and they found out that ducks like to eat snails. They hired ducks to eat the snails, and the ducks fertilized the soil at the same time. - The solution to environmental problems The solution to all the problems associated with the environment is to live in harmony with nature instead of trying to control it. - Learning from nature Instead of controlling the snail population, the farm looked for how nature dealt with snails. They discovered that ducks like to eat snails, and by hiring ducks to eat the snails, they were able to solve the snail problem and fertilize the soil at the same time. - Using the bottleneck to solve problems To solve problems, we need to find the bottleneck in the system. The bottleneck is the place where things get stuck, and there is delay. We need to be looking for the bottlenecks of a system, and once we find them, we can work on fixing them. - Analyzing the cause of problems To solve problems, we need to analyze the cause of the problem and not just fix the symptoms. This involves analyzing the four levels of reality and understanding the cause of the problem. - Starting to solve problems To start solving problems, we need to find the event that helps us analyze the next three levels. We need to find the bottleneck and work on fixing it. - Strengthening the system The system is only as strong as its weakest part. To strengthen the system, we need to find the bottleneck and work on fixing it. - Finding bottlenecks To find bottlenecks, we need to look for the place where things get stuck and there is delay. We need to analyze the system and find the bottleneck to work on fixing it. - Applying bottleneck analysis to the farm To apply bottleneck analysis to the farm, we need to look for the bottleneck that is delaying the farm from turning a profit. Once we find the bottleneck, we can work on fixing it. - Delay is the bottleneck on the farm On the farm, the bottleneck is delay. Delay is what is preventing the farm from turning a profit. The farm needs to find a way to reduce delay to turn a profit. - Using Cover Crops in Agriculture 1. Cover crops are used to revive soil. 2. Planting cover crops can lead to a change in the environment, attracting bugs and critters. 3. Snails tend to like cover crops, which can affect citrus trees. 4. Planting cover crops requires second-order thinking, as it entails being prepared for potential pests. 5. Farmers should conduct thorough research on likely outcomes before planting cover crops. 6. They should also consider which outcome is most likely to occur before taking action. - Benefits of Cover Crops 1. Cover crops revive soil by restoring nutrients and water. 2. They can help prevent soil erosion. 3. Cover crops also improve biodiversity in the soil. - The Importance of Second-Order Thinking 1. Second-order thinking is necessary when planting cover crops to prepare for potential pests. 2. Without second-order thinking, people often make shallow decisions. 3. Second-order thinking helps determine what research is necessary before taking action. - Questions to Consider When Making Decisions 1. What are the likely outcomes of a decision? 2. If you cannot answer this question, it may indicate that your knowledge is too shallow. 3. What is the most likely outcome of all possible outcomes? 4. Considering this can help inform decision making. - Clarifying Your Thinking Tips on identifying the best measurements to move towards your goals. - Setting Up Feedback Loop Steps to set up a feedback loop for measuring progress towards your goals. - Defining Your Goal Defining your goal is essential to set the scene for everything else to come. - Articulating Assumptions Identifying assumptions about how you can reach your goals is crucial for setting up the appropriate measurements. - Choosing Appropriate Measurements Selecting measurements that work for your assumptions and goals is critical to assessing progress. - Making Better Decisions Clarifying your thinking is essential to making better decisions. - Using Mental Models Mental models can help shape your thinking and improve decision-making. - Tracking Decisions Tracking your decisions can help you make better decisions. - Choosing the Right Metrics Selecting appropriate metrics for your assumptions and goals is crucial for measuring progress. - Shaping Your Thinking Mental models can help shape your thinking and improve decision-making.
Let me add to the analysis (parts thinking): we attempt to understand by looking ONLY at how each part works. In order to understand that part, we must disassemble it and keep doing that until we get to an irreducible (fundamental) part.
More of these please! It's hard to think in systems but I'm all for practicing so we don't have to oversimplifythe world for the sake of simplifying. Looking forward to the video on decision journal using mental models 👌 😀
In order to get better, one just needs to pay sustained interested attention to the world and notice the interactions. For moderns, this involves not jumping the gun and re-thinking a lot of the brainwash we were brought up with.
This is such a great overview of systems thinking! Everyone working in government or on things that other people have to use/interact with should be thinking in this way.
Vicky, you are beautiful and sharp! You deserve getting millions of views! Your presentation and content was spot on; saves time and delivers the message! Kudos!
Wow I'm just obsessed with your videos on framework thinking and mental models! This information has an added value to my life in so many ways (and I have only seen 2 of your videos so far). I think this can cause an improvement in the way I think, organize information/ thoughts, but also communicate with others. Besides the personal improvement, my goal is to connect some mental models with social work/ social problems and solutions in the work field. Which brings me to my next questions: Do you have a course on thinking in frameworks? Do you coach people on using mental models in their daily life? Which books/workbooks do you recommend when it comes to learning more about this? Especially how to implement it into my daily life/ work life.
Thank you very much for watching and for sharing this with me 🙏 I’m so glad these videos resonate and definitely has potential to be used in social problems!! I used this in pro bono work as well. To answer your question - I’m in the process of creating a course on this! I’ll announce the first version on RU-vid and Twitter when it’s ready!
Brilliant! I'm founding a startup to deal with troubles I've encountered in my profession. It's coming together. I was thinking about stopgaps in my own life causing me troubles, and started looking into a systems approach to organize my own life. As a long time gardener, the farm example is fantastic for me personally. The way you put the information together will help not only in my life, but in my new business as well. Thank you!
Love all of your videos and this one especially. This subject threw me back years to my reading of "The 5th Discipline" by Peter Senge, while I was working with a coach who became a beloved friend. One of my favorites. Many parallels, while at the same time expanding the subject and creating connections to other similar/related trains of thought. Thanks for this!
Vicky: I’m so very happy and feeling lucky to have found your channel that contains exactly the same type of message I’ve been looking for for my students - and delivers in such lively, clear, wonderfully flowing manner, and thus so powerfully effective! I am recommending your channel to my students, TODAY ❤👍👍🌹
Hi there Vicky! Great content and good examples, just one small note there is a bit of an echo happening (sounds like you're in a cave or tunnel). I'm not sure if it's because of the room you're in or the type of microphone you're using. Just a small piece of feedback. Thanks for this content! Glad I found your channel :)
Great work!! Thank you. Very clear and excellent explanation. But please in future work with a clip on decent quality mic, recording into a decent audio recorder. U then import that audio into the video file. Makes huge diff to the overall quality. Seems crazy but it's true. Nowadays there are easier solutions with a mic connected to the computer directly but old skool still tops
A tip for non linear models is to know as much specific information about the things interconnected to get more optimized solutions that are more effective but don’t do too much unless you know how and why you are targeting it because it can disrupt it and cause a big mess
Wow this resonates I find myself trying to find the answer to, now I see everything, through breaking down the whole into parts and looking for linear connections. Even with your videos I watched the first 3 about 5 times and I was sitting here thinking how do I put it together (linearly). Meanwhile I look at the comments and see some similar posts about applying. Then I listened to 4 which transitions into solution phase of 2nd order thinking and how to implement it (non linearly) Thank you your videos bring clarity🙏🏽
The opening reminded me of a joke: There are two types of people in the world: those who think there are only two types of people in the world and those who don’t. 😂 I subscribed halfway through the video. Great stuff!
I found this video very interesting, I say that because I've already known & applied all of these methods. I similarly follow systematic thinking & actually caught myself using that specific word, so when you brought it up, I was intrigued. I've been analyzing the way I think since as long as I can remember, I'm not lying. I've always said everything is connected & there is always a way. It's interesting to see how something like thoughts & methods of assessing can be similarly understood from all perspectives
This was a video recommended by the youtube algorithm and I really liked it. Yes the audio can be a bit more crisp would help make it even better. Liked the example you used in the video. I think the only thing i can suggest is maybe a bit more text summaries in the video, to make the ideas stick and to let the distracted users like me stay focused.
Great content but it would have a 10x greater impact if you used post its, white boards or other visual representations of your models. And then a grand model to show how they all fit together. Thanks
Thank you, your content is beneficial for me as a UX designer. Something works in intuition, but these models and techniques help to systematize my knowledge!
Very good! Glad to see the world is pulling head out of its ass. These ideas have been around for ages but have been largely neglected in modernity, which was dazzled by the shiny products of linear thinking. Thinkers like Heraclitus, Aristotle, Bergson, Goethe, R. Steiner, McGilchrist are all relevant here. As it happens, there is an entire parallel holistic side of philosophy and its derivative - science.
Thank you for this breakdown-I've been engaged with a bit of Benebell Wen's videos and her way of thinking of things but found them to be a bit to complex for me to derive optimal benefit from though there were some advantage; I think the models and ideas you have set up aligns with my pattern and upbringing a bit more as an Asian American in NYC. I look forward to seeing more of your content (this is the first video). Thank you again and have a great day!
Either you speak really quiet or it's your microphone. I have to turn you video almost twice as loud as others. Anyway, thanks for the interesting content.👍
Linear is not if a then b then c. That is transitivity of the implication. Linearity is if the sum of the output of two systems is equal to the output of the sum of the systems.
“If then else” is not linear. It’s just a logical operation which can be in either linear or non linear system. “System is not without logical operation”
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:00 🌐 Understanding Systems Thinking - Systems thinking emphasizes viewing the world as a whole rather than focusing on individual parts. - Aristotle's insight that the whole is more than the sum of its parts is introduced. - Schools traditionally teach subjects separately, but systems thinking encourages understanding the connections between different components. 00:54 🔄 Linear vs. Non-linear Organization - Linear thinking involves sequential cause and effect (if A, then B), while non-linear thinking recognizes dynamic, interconnected relationships. - The example of "The Biggest Little Farm" documentary illustrates the non-linear nature of a farm's ecosystem. - Encourages drawing non-linear connections between elements in a system to reveal interconnections. 02:38 📊 Stock and Flow Mental Model - Introduces the mental model of stock and flow to understand systems in two parts: stock (things that can be added or subtracted) and flow (actions changing the stock). - The farm example is used to illustrate the concept, emphasizing the importance of recognizing what makes up the system and how actions influence it. - Simplifies complex systems by focusing on the tangible elements (stock) and the actions that alter them (flow). 04:46 🧊 Iceberg Model: Events to Mental Models - Introduces the iceberg model, representing four levels of reality: events, patterns of behavior, systems, and mental models. - Most people only see events, and the model encourages delving deeper into patterns, structures, and underlying beliefs. - Understanding mental models helps uncover assumptions shaping the system and allows for more effective problem-solving. 06:20 🚧 Finding the Bottleneck - Emphasizes the importance of identifying the bottleneck in a system, the point where things get stuck or delayed. - Using the farm example, the bottleneck is identified as the pests destroying 70% of the crops. - Introduces the concept of prioritizing problems by focusing on the most significant bottleneck using mental models like the 80/20 rule. 09:13 🤔 Second Order Thinking - Explores second-order thinking, which goes beyond immediate cause and effect (first order) to consider the implications of actions. - Encourages anticipating and understanding potential outcomes and consequences of decisions. - Helps avoid shallow thinking by questioning assumptions, predicting outcomes, and assessing confidence in decisions. 12:33 🔍 Building a Feedback Loop - Discusses the importance of designing a feedback loop in systems, allowing continuous improvement by measuring progress toward goals. - Steps for setting up a feedback loop include defining the goal, articulating assumptions, and choosing relevant measurements. - Illustrates the feedback loop application for clarifying thinking and decision-making, emphasizing continuous learning and adjustment. Made with HARPA AI
Great content! But I am not able to understand this. Could you please help me if there is any book to understand mental models. Where do we apply these?
hello I completed my engineering, without enjoying it. I don't want to be just a part of a big machine. plez suggest to me some very very small ideas which will gradually become biger but also pay me at initials. because I don't have spare time left for revenue generation.
Hi Vicky, I really love your content. It provides so much value. But I am just curious why they are not visually appealing. I mean people like me lose interest in between. Don't you have any editor?
![Vicky Zhao [BEEAMP]](http://yt3.ggpht.com/BGuOSWJb0OgI0yl1M22EpVKQRiCUz6NC3AnZ7Kjh_qm9keUZcaR0qLs1rpkP7SVLVQx8hJeM2hk=s48-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj)