EntreWorld has an article by Michael Gerber:
All successful entrepreneurs possess one fundamental ability, one fundamental quality, one fundamental skill, one fundamental interest, without which they would never be successfulentrepreneurs possess the ability to perceive the world as a system.
What is a Systems Thinker?
A Systems Thinker is one who intuits and sees the whole of a thing, the entirety of it, the one-ness of it, the integrated unity of it, as opposed to merely the sum of its parts.
A Systems Thinker transcends the world in order to transform it.
A Systems Thinker is an inventor as opposed to an engineer.
A Systems Thinker sees purpose in everything, and sees the system as the realization of the purpose.
A Systems Thinker sees meaning in everything, and if not, pursues everything until the meaning becomes clear, until the System reveals itself in all its glory.
A Systems Thinker is possessed by the meaning of things.
Gerber goes on to identify a 7-step process to convert frustrations into systems.
I agree with Gerber – entrepreneurs definitely need to see the bigger picture, see things as a whole rather than a collection of parts.
