To understand systems thinking, one must first gather the understanding of what a “system” means.

A system is a combination of elements interconnected in a manner to achieve a specific purpose. Sometimes these elements are intelligent (agents) and their interactions are dynamic which lead to complex systems. Complex systems evolve over time to perform something that was unintended initially.

Understanding each element, how they interact with each other, and for what purpose is what “systems thinking” (ST) is about. One could look at a system’s response and understand its structure or knowing the structure predict the system’s future behavior.

While systems thinking is about understanding the elements and how they interact with each other to achieve a certain function, Systems Engineering (SE) is the process of how to realize and manage such systems throughout the system’s lifecycle. The lifecycle begins by identifying the need for the system until deploying the system into operation and further to even decommissioning the system after its purpose has been fulfilled. SE talks about the technical and managerial processes for the entire lifecycle.

Systems Architecting, SA is about gathering various needs and requirements of all the stakeholders, visualizing the system from various perspectives, and then drawing up it’s logical and physical structure such that it can be realized to fulfil its purpose while satisfying all the stakeholders.