Teaching Systems Thinking to Your Team

Educational leaders and managers alike must shift focus from isolated problem-solving to seeing the bigger picture. Systems thinking cultivates this perspective, enabling teams to address root causes, interconnections, and leverage lasting change.

1. Understand the whole before fixing parts Systems thinking is the capacity to see the whole beyond its parts and the parts within the whole. In schools, this means recognizing how curriculum changes, staff morale, scheduling, and community dynamics shape student outcomes—not treating each in isolation.

2. Use the LIST model to guide collaborative problem-solving

“LIST” stands for Listing parts, Interdependency, Sensemaking, Temperament—a model designed for school leaders. Teams explore each part of the problem, map how they connect, make sense of patterns, and cultivate the relational skills needed to navigate change together.

3. Develop four core systems-leader habits

According to Shaked & Schechter, effective systems-thinking school leaders:

• Look at wholes (seeing big picture)

• Adopt multidimensional perspectives (view problems from multiple angles)

• Influence indirectly (leverage relationships rather than mandate)

• Evaluate significance (prioritize what matters most within the system) 

These habits help school leaders shift from quick fixes to multi-layered solutions.

4. Anchor systems thinking in daily routines

In practice, systems approaches can include:

• Running team meetings with “LIST” prompts (“What elements are we missing?”)

• Mapping how community feedback intersects with discipline, curriculum, and staffing

• Reflecting on interventions by asking “What ripple effects did this create in other areas?”

This replaces reactive “firefighting meetings” with reflective systems conversations.

5. Invest in systems-thinking development

Shaked’s research shows leaders develop systems capacity through managerial experience, industry role models, academic study, or natural inclination. For educational settings, this means creating mentorship programs, study groups, and experiential leadership opportunities that cultivate a systems mindset among aspiring school leaders.

Key takeaways:

• Prevent siloed solutions by learning to “see the forest before fixing the trees.”

• Embed LIST into team culture for shared problem framing.

• Strengthen leadership pipelines by building systems-thinking habits and opportunities.