Postgraduate Certificate in Systems Thinking in Practice

Open University

This certificate may change the way you think about the situations you face. You’ll learn to think more holistically, understanding the roles other people play, taking account of the interconnectedness of all the components making up the problem situation and working more collaboratively. You’ll find out how to relate the ideas of key systems thinkers to your own practice. The discipline of systems thinking gives you the tools to challenge your approach to complex situations; to assess the relationships of different components within a situation; to consider the roles other people play; to recognise that each person brings with them their own perspective on a situation and to work with those multiple perspectives.

Key features of the course

• Deepens your understanding of the nature of complex and messy problem situations and how they can be tackled
• Helps you develop new ways of thinking about and approaching situations that cross multiple discipline and skill boundaries
• Provides skills to think more holistically and work more collaboratively to avoid systemic failures.

Career relevance

The knowledge and skills developed through this postgraduate certificate course will provide benefits in a wide variety of economic sectors to you as well as to your employers or other organisations. Applications exist in any organisation where complex processes exist and where a change is required, including, for example, health services, environmental and development management, manufacturing and IT. Managers at all levels will find the ability to approach complex problems from a systems perspective to be a useful addition to their management and leadership skills portfolio. If you are self-employed you may also find the knowledge developed enables you to take a more objective and innovative view of the systems you have already created and how to change these for the future.