In the early 2000s, at my former company, my team was tasked with creating educational products for a major national educational toy brand. We developed an impressive line of learning tools—forensic kits, microscopes, telescopes—designed to engage curious young minds. After securing coveted shelf space at a major retailer, we were thrilled. Then reality hit.

One of our most innovative products arrived at stores nationwide only to face an unexpected obstacle: It was too tall for its designated shelf space. And here’s the thing: In mass-market retail, you don’t change shelf heights; they’re meticulously planned by merchandisers and are nonnegotiable. Our product, intended for the prime middle shelf where visibility and sales are highest, was relegated to less desirable bottom shelves.

Sales faltered out of the gates. Fortunately, the solution was simple, albeit frustrating. We had to redesign the packaging to fit the shelf. Once we did, sales took off.

This wasn’t a failure of creativity or engineering. It was a failure to understand the entire system within which our product existed. We had designed in isolation, neglecting to consider the retail environment that would ultimately determine our success or failure.

The genesis of systems thinking

The above is a perfect example of what happens when teams abandon systems while designing products or solutions. This kind of oversight isn’t unique to retail—it happens in every industry where products, processes, and technologies interact within larger ecosystems. That’s why systems thinking has become a crucial framework for problem-solving, evolving over decades to help us navigate an increasingly interconnected world.

Systems thinking isn’t new. It originated in the 1930s with biologist Ludwig von Bertalanffy at the University of Chicago, who observed how changes to one group of cells affected others despite their apparent independence. The concept evolved through MIT’s work in the late 1940s with “cybernetics”—the study of interconnected stand-alone parts working in concert.

Today, we live in a world of increasingly complex systems. Your smartwatch connects to your phone, which syncs with your fitness app, which manages your daily goals—until a tech issue throws off your progress! Modern society offers virtually no escape from interdependent systems. Understanding these relationships isn’t just academic; it’s essential for creating successful businesses and avoiding costly mistakes.

Why traditional problem-solving falls short

When production issues arise, the instinct is often to fix the most visible problem. A failing machine? Reinforce its weak points. A broken component? Make it more durable. But this approach only treats symptoms, not root causes.

For example, take a recurring issue experienced by an industrial manufacturing client. They asked my team to solve a frustrating problem: Precision measurement machines, crucial to production lines, were halting operations unexpectedly. At first glance, the machines themselves seemed to be the problem. But after months of field research at multiple sites, the real culprit emerged, which was the handheld controllers, or “jog boxes,” that operated these machines.

These controllers frequently broke when dropped or snagged, shutting down entire production lines until repairs could be made, often at great expense and delay. As it turned out, the pain point for customers had very little to do with the product itself. Instead, it was a breakdown in the system that caused most of the issues.

A traditional fix would have been to design a sturdier jog box. Instead, by analyzing the entire system—both the product and the service—we found a more straightforward and effective solution:

1. Create a simple mount for the joystick controller so operators can place it in a controlled location.

2. Use a disconnectable cable to connect the joystick to the machine. Rather than reinforcing a flawed design, we eliminated the failure point altogether.

This wasn’t about cutting-edge technology or radical redesign. It was about understanding how interconnected systems influence outcomes, and identifying the point of maximum leverage. In other words, a slight adjustment can lead to significant and lasting improvements.

How to start systems thinking

The challenge with systems thinking is that it requires practice. Many organizations make the mistake of applying these principles first to their most significant problems—the equivalent of attempting half-court shots before mastering basic layups.

If you want to apply systems thinking to your organization, here’s what you need to do.

Map your problem thoroughly before considering solutions. Spend time up front to map out the specifics of the problem you’re trying to solve. Clearly identify the actual situation without suggesting solutions. Use physical tools like sticky notes or digital platforms like Miro—the medium doesn’t matter, but the thoroughness does.

Identify interconnections between system components. Understanding how changing one element affects others helps you predict unintended consequences and find efficient paths through constraints. For example, think both upstream and downstream about how the solution being addressed affects the business and the customer.

Make mapping a team sport. You can never map a system alone. Bring in perspectives from operations, finance, sales, marketing, and product development. This not only creates a more accurate map but also builds buy-in for eventual solutions.

Start with the minor problems. Build your systems-thinking muscles on manageable challenges before tackling your organization’s most complex issues.

Designing for the bigger picture

When done correctly, systems thinking leads teams to solutions that seem obvious in retrospect. In our jog box example, once we mapped the system and presented it to our client, the solution became obvious: “Of course, we should make a detachable cable.” The discussion quickly moved from identifying the problem to fine-tuning the new product to fully meet the customer’s needs.

Systems thinking extends far beyond product design. Marketing, customer service, supply chain management, and organizational structure all benefit from this approach. Each function exists within overlapping systems that influence outcomes in ways that aren’t always immediately apparent.

The most successful organizations recognize these interconnections and design for the environments in which they exist. Whether you’re designing for retail shelves or factory floors, remember that no product exists in isolation. Map your systems, understand the connections, practice on manageable challenges, and watch as seemingly intractable problems reveal surprisingly simple solutions.